


The Stuff of Legend

by AshVarnei



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s02e12 Army of Ghosts, Episode: s02e13 Doomsday, F/M, Fix-It, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-21
Updated: 2012-09-02
Packaged: 2017-11-12 14:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 27,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/492357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshVarnei/pseuds/AshVarnei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 1899, Jack was recurited to Torchwood Three, Cardiff. In 1996, he was promoted to Torchwood One. When the Doctor and Rose turn up 10 years later, they reunite to battle the enemy. But how many lives will one immortal man, in a different place at a different time, affect?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Beta-ed by Eilonwyn at FF.net.  
> Starts partway through Army of Ghosts.

The Doctor burst into speech as he rounded the console, throwing his coat over the pillar as he went. "I said so! Those ghosts have been forced into existence from one specific point. And I can track down the source!" He grinned excitedly, pushing a lever down hard to set the TARDIS in motion. "Allons-y!"

He and Rose both fell back onto the captain's chair as the TARDIS gave a wild jerk, but as soon as it steadied slightly, the Doctor was on his feet again, circling the console, babbling as he pressed buttons and turned dials.

"I like that. 'Allons-y'. I should say 'allons-y' more often. 'Allons-y'. Look sharp, Rose Tyler, allons-y! And THEN, it would be really brilliant if I met someone called Alonso. Because then I could say, 'allons-y, Alonso!' Every time!" He turned to face Rose, who had a small smile on her face, and stopped short. "You're staring at me."

"My Mum's still on board." she half-whispered.

The Doctor looked up, aghast, to where Jackie was sitting on the gantries. How had he not noticed the presence of the formidable Tyler woman? And why did she have to be on board anyway? Didn't he have enough problems without having to deal with Rose's Mum?

"If we end up on Mars, I'm gonna kill you!" she stated, folding her arms.

The Doctor took a deep breath and turned back to the monitor as the screen changed. "Ooh. Looks like we're here then."

Jackie jumped down and came across to the console. "Where's here then?"

"Looks like a storage room." Rose and the Doctor shared a look, grinning. Hopefully landing in a storage room wouldn't cause as much trouble as it did last time.

The three watched as armed soldiers burst into the room, assembling in front of the TARDIS.

The Doctor sighed slightly. "Oh well, there goes the advantage of surprise. Still! Cuts to the chase. Stay in here, look after Jackie." He strode in the direction of the doors, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he went.

Rose followed him, protesting. "I'm not looking after my Mum!"

"Well you brought her!" he retorted, glancing over his shoulder at her.

"I was kidnapped!" Jackie called indignantly, following them towards the doors.

The Doctor made to leave the TARDIS, but Rose slipped past him and blocked the doorway.

"Doctor, they've got guns." she warned.

"And I haven't, which makes me the better person, don't you think?" he replied, taking his hands out of his pockets, catching her and smoothly moving her out of the way. He paused at the door to continue. "They can shoot me dead, but the moral high ground is mine." He didn't wait for them to protest, instead quickly sliding out the door he had just opened.

The guns all cocked as someone called out "Halt!", but as the Doctor slowly raised his hands a woman burst through from the back, smiling excitedly.

"Oh! Oh, how marvellous." She started clapping. "Oh, very good! Superb! Happy day!" She glanced round at the soldiers, who let go of their guns to start clapping too.

The Doctor lowered his hands tentatively, wondering what on Earth was going on. "Umm, thanks. Nice to meet you. I'm... the Doctor," he started, only to be interrupted by the woman.

"Oh I should say! Hooray!" She started clapping again, setting the soldiers off once more. She suddenly held a hand to her earpiece. "Jack, get yourself down here, now. You won't want to miss this."

"You... you've heard of me then?" he asked, slightly uneasy, but smiling all the same. It wasn't everyday he was met with such an enthusiastic reception.

"Well of course we have!" the woman said, slightly more seriously, "And I have to say, if it wasn't for you, none of us would  _be_ here! The Doctor and the TARDIS!" And again with the clapping. The Doctor grinned, quite enjoying the attention, and raised his hands to gesture for silence.

"And... and you are?" he asked, regaining his confidence.

"Oh plenty of time for that. But according to the records, you're not one for travelling alone. The Doctor and his companion. That's a pattern isn't it, right?" The Doctor stared at her, eyebrow raised. Why would anybody be studying him to that extent? The woman's tone became slightly sinister as she continued.

"There's no point hiding anything, not from us. So where is she?"

The Doctor paused, stalling, before suddenly grinning. Something was seriously wrong here, but he couldn't do anything except play along…

"Yes, sorry! Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all." He reached through the open TARDIS door, and pulled Jackie out. "But here she is; Rose Tyler!" He looked her up and down, as though considering her. "Hmm, she's not the best I've ever had, bit too blonde. Not to steady on her pins. A lot of that." He mimed chatting with his hand, turning back to his 'audience'. The woman laughed. "And just last week she stared into the heart of the time vortex, and aged, 57 years. But she'll do."

"I'm forty!" Jackie protested. The Doctor opened his mouth the reply, but was cut off abruptly.

"Hello. What've I missed then?" an American voice drawled from the doorway. The woman turned to him, smiling. But the Doctor didn't hear what she said next. Because stood in the doorway was the last person he expected to see in a place like this. Especially since last time he'd checked, said person had been dead. Captain Jack Harkness.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"So, Yvonne, this is the Doctor and his companion? Y'know, I thought he'd be older. But he's kinda cute."

The Doctor resisted scolding Jack, just looked at him quizzically as the woman, Yvonne, turned back to face him, shaking her head slightly. "Jack," she said sternly. "Anyway, Doctor, this is my second-in-command, Captain Jack Harkness."

The Doctor looked at her, barely listening to what she was saying. There was something weird about Jack. He was just…wrong.

His gut instinct made him ache to run away as fast as he could – in the opposite direction. But he couldn't do that to his old friend. It was Jack. Good old Jack Harkness, who helped save the universe from the Daleks.

Jack Harkness, who had somehow become a fixed point in time.

As he glanced back at him, Jack looked him in the eye and shook his head imperceptibly. The Doctor stared for a moment, before getting the message.  _Don't recognise me._ He nodded, as though agreeing to what Yvonne was saying, but still looking at Jack. The younger man gave the smallest of smiles and walked towards them, as though just realising he was still standing in the doorway.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my awesome beta - Eilonwyn from FF.net

Jack paused as he reached the doorway through which he could hear sounds of conversation.

"...So where is she?" Yvonne's voice sounded almost sinister, and Jack would have been fooled if it wasn't for the fact that he knew his superior was just trying to get the most out of the Doctor she could. Not that that was a good thing, but the Doctor, Jack knew, would realise exactly what was going on before Yvonne managed to play her trump card.

"Yes, sorry! Good point. She's just a bit shy, that's all." Jack frowned. That voice didn't sound anything like the Doctor's gruff northern accent. "But here she is; Rose Tyler!" the voice continued. Jack grinned and peered around the doorway. He blinked once, resisting the urge to burst out laughing, as Jackie Tyler was introduced as her daughter. Grinning at the expression on the older woman's face, he shifted his glance to the tall, thin man standing next to her in front of the TARDIS.

Jack didn't recognise him, but it was obvious that he was the Doctor. He had the same guarded expression, the same calculating look in his eyes even as he babbled on about 'Rose'. That was new, the babbling. His Doctor had had a bit of a gob when he'd wanted, but not to this extent. But this Doctor was certainly a lot hotter... shame Rose had first dibs on him.

"I'm forty!" Jackie's voice rang out, breaking Jack away from his thoughts. He saw the Doctor opening his mouth to retort, and decided that maybe this would be a good point to enter, before the two started an argument in front of Yvonne.

Jack steeled himself, and stepped into the room.

"Hello. What've I missed then?" he drawled. Yvonne turned to face him. His usual grin on his face, Jack forced himself not to look the Doctor in the eye; he could tell the other man was staring at him.

"So, Yvonne, this is the Doctor and his companion? Y'know, I thought he'd be older. But he's kinda cute." He grinned to himself inwardly at the ability to make that sort of remark in the Doctor's hearing without gaining a rebuke.

"Jack..." Jack just grinned as Yvonne gazed sternly at him. Jack just grinned and winked at her. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the Doctor. "Anyway, Doctor, this is my second-in-command, Captain Jack Harkness."

As soon as Yvonne had her back turned, Jack stared intently at the Time Lord until the Doctor glanced towards him again. Looking at the alien straight in the eye, he shook his head at him as imperceptibly as he could. The Doctor stared at him. Jack stared straight back, hoping that somehow the Doctor would get his message.  _Don't recognise me..._

To Jack's utter relief, the Doctor nodded, just as Yvonne finished her sentence. Yvonne took it as a vague acknowledgement. Jack almost collapsed in relief. Instead, he strode into the room, looking for all the world how a confident second-in-command should look.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"So what are we gonna show them first? There's a lot of stuff down in Tech that the Doctor might find interesting..."

"Yes Jack, just so he can identify it all for you." Yvonne smiled fondly at him, "No, the next ghost shift is due soon, we should just about have time to visit the sphere beforehand. After all, that is what's important." Jack nodded once, conceding her point. The next ghost shift was in twenty minutes. And he was sure that the sphere had something to do with the ghosts.

"Lead on then."

Yvonne turned to lead them away, the Doctor and Jackie following. Jack lingered behind a moment, glancing at the soldiers.

"Back to work guys. Although," he added, glancing back at the now empty doorway, "I'd be on battle alert of I were you. I've heard the Doctor has quite an explosive personality."

Chuckling at the looks on their faces, he slipped out of the doorway and caught the others up halfway down the corridor. Yvonne was making some kind of small speech; in an attempt to appear impressive. But it wasn't fooling the Doctor. It didn't even seem to be fooling Jackie, which  _was_  impressive.

"It was only a matter of time until you found us. And at last you've made it. I'd like to welcome you, Doctor." She pushed the door to the door open, revealing what looked like a storage floor, even with the scientists working there. "Welcome... to Torchwood."

Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her tone, as he often did when she was in this mood. Not that he could blame her though. Torchwood was pretty impressive, if not for all the right reasons.

"That's a Jathar Sun glider..." The Doctor was staring in disbelief at the contraption held to the ceiling.

"Came down to Earth off the Shetland Islands ten years ago," Yvonne explained nonchalantly. Jack winced. That particular mission had not been pretty...

"What, did it crash?" the Doctor asked.

"No, we shot it down," Yvonne replied smugly. "It violated our airspace. The weapon that destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Day? That was us! Now, if you'd like to come with me..."

Jack watched the Doctor's dark eyes become stormy at the mention of the Sycorax. As Jackie moved past him to follow Yvonne, who was heading towards some scientists, he looked at Jack as if to say,  _what the heck are you doing in a place like this?_

Yvonne continued her monologue as they moved across the room. "The Torchwood Institute has a motto: 'If it's alien, it's ours.' Anything that comes from the sky – we strip it down, and we use it. For the good of the British Empire."

"For the good of the what?" Jackie interrupted.

"The British Empire."

"There  _isn't_  a British Empire!" she protested.

"Not yet," Yvonne replied, turning away as the Doctor, who had been having a look at a few other artefacts, wandered back towards them. "Ah, excuse me..." She took the gun off a soldier who was passing. "Now, if you wouldn't mind, do you recognise this, Doctor?"

"That's a particle gun." He said flatly.

"I told you he would be able to identify anything," Jack remarked.

"Well, not quite everything. But, this is the twenty-first century. You can't have particle guns."

"The twenty-first century is when everything changes." Jack quoted mystically. The Doctor quirked an eyebrow at him, but he didn't continue.

"And we must defend our border against the alien." She turned away from the Doctor abruptly, handing the gun back to the soldier. "Thank you... Sebastian, isn't it?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Thank you Sebastian. I think it's very important to know everyone by name. Torchwood is a very modern organisation. People skills. That's what it's all about these days. I'm a people person." Jack laughed and Yvonne shook her head at him. "Whatever  _you_  may say, Jack."

The Doctor was nodding as though he was impressed. "You got anyone called Alonso?" Jackie rolled her eyes, and Yvonne frowned.

"I'm sure I could find you an Alonso." Jack replied cheekily.

"Not that important I suppose. What was your name?" He was still speaking to Yvonne. Jack almost felt hurt that the Doctor wasn't talking to him, but he figured that it was probably part of some plan the guy was concocting in his head. Or just so he didn't slip up and revert into their old ways...

"Yvonne. Yvonne Hartman."

The Doctor had walked over to where Jack was standing in front of a crate of magnaclamps, and was pulling one out to examine it. Yvonne, forever showing off, started talking again.

"Ah yes, we're rather fond of these. The Magnaclamp, found in a spaceship at the base of Mount Snowdon," Yvonne started.

"Attach it to an object and it cancels out the mass. We haven't fully tested it, but we know it can lift at least two tonnes." Jack continued.

"Imperial tonnes, that is." Yvonne interrupted. "Torchwood refuses to go metric."

"I could do with that to carry the shopping." Jackie said whimsically. Jack laughed.

"Imagine how you'd look carrying them down the street. And it's only been tested on flat surfaces, I don't think it could attach itself to a shopping bag..."

"Enough with the techno stuff Jack." Yvonne reprimanded.

The Doctor threw the magnaclamp back into the crate carelessly, and wandered over to the next desk, examining some equipment as he went.

"So, what about these ghosts?"

"Ah yes, the ghosts. They're what you might call... a side effect."

"An unnecessary side effect," Jack put in.

"Yes, we all know how you feel about the ghosts, Jack." Yvonne rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

"A side effect of what?" the Doctor pressed.

"All in good time, Doctor." Yvonne merely smirked at his impatient expression.

"Oi, where are you taking that?" Jackie yelled suddenly.

They turned to see the TARDIS being brought in on the back of a truck.

"If it's alien, it's ours." Yvonne quoted herself.

"You'll never get inside it." The Doctor stated lazily, gazing intently at the doors.

"Et cetera." Yvonne said patronisingly, turning away.

Jack frowned a little as he noticed the doors open slightly before he saw the face peeking out.  _Rose._  The Doctor half nodded in acknowledgement of her. He and Jack shared a look before they followed the others out of the room.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"All those times I've been on Earth, I've never heard of you," the Doctor half questioned Yvonne.

"But of course not. You're the enemy. You're actually named in the Torchwood Foundation Charter of 1879 as an enemy of the Crown." Jack grinned at that. He knew for a fact, as the Doctor had mentioned it at some point, that the Doctor was good friends with Queen Elizabeth II. And a few others. Not that Torchwood knew that, of course.

"1879. That was called Torchwood, that house in Scotland."

"That's right. Where you encountered Queen Victoria and the werewolf."

"I think he makes half of it up." Jackie responded.

"Her Majesty created the Torchwood Institute with the express intention of keeping Britain great. And fighting the alien horde."

"But if I'm the enemy, does that mean that I'm a prisoner?" The Doctor asked conversationally, exchanging a glance with Jack.

Yvonne replied in the same tone. "Oh yes. But don't worry, we'll make you quite comfortable."

"Very comfortable." Jack put in, allowing a little innuendo into his voice. The Doctor frowned at him.

"But there is a lot you can teach us Doctor... starting with this." She tapped her I.D. badge on the reader, and the metal door slid open to reveal a large, half empty room with a couple of scientists working at the computers. The head of them, Rajesh Singh, looked up as they entered.

Jack sighed. He avoided coming in here as much as possible. The room gave him a headache, not just because of the sphere, but because of all the scans going on all the time. No-one else seemed to realise that they were scanning the whole room, not just the sphere.

"Now what do you make of that?"

The sphere was hanging at the end of the room, unchanging and simply... weird. It made Jack shiver. Partly because it  _just wasn't there_ , but partly because he figured, whatever it was inside it, it was bad. And with the Doctor here, problems would start escalating. They always did when he was around.

"You must be the Doctor," Raj was saying. "Rajesh Singh. It's an honour, sir."

"Yeah..." The Doctor answered vaguely, staring at the sphere, not even glancing down at poor Raj.

"What is that thing?" Jackie exclaimed.

"We've got no idea." Yvonne replied. "We've even had consultants from UNIT and other agencies come in and examine it. No-one can identify it, or even work out where it came from."

"But what's wrong with it?" persisted Jackie.

"What makes you think something's wrong with it?" Raj asked quickly.

"I dunno... just feels weird."

They all looked up as the Doctor darted forward, up the steps that led up to the sphere.

"Well, the sphere has that effect on everyone. Makes you wanna run and hide," Raj told Jackie. "Like it's forbidden." Obviously they thought the Doctor wasn't listening to them, but Jack knew he would be, even if what they were talking about wasn't important. "We've tried analysing it using every device imaginable."

Jack watched as the Doctor pulled a pair of blue/red 3-D glasses out of his pocket and put them on, still staring at the sphere. He frowned. He knew for certain they hadn't tried using a blue/red scan on the sphere.

Jack moved discreetly over to one of the computers, and after inputting a few codes, got a blue/red scan up on the screen. And for once, it actually showed something. There was this... stuff... hovering around the sphere. Jack frowned again, and glanced up to the Doctor. But the Time Lord didn't seem to be mentioning this discovery of... stuff. Jack couldn't think of another word for the strange particles that hung around the sphere. The only thing he could think of that looked even remotely similar were nano-genes, and even those didn't really look the same. Different colour. Jack gave up on his thought process and pressed the 'clear' button on the keyboard. The Doctor almost certainly had a reason for withholding the information.

Raj continued his explanation to Jackie. "But - according to our instruments - the sphere doesn't exist. It weighs nothing. It doesn't age. No heat. No radiation. And - has no atomic mass."

"But I can see it!" Jackie protested.

"Fascinating, isn't it? It upsets people because it gives off... nothing. It is... absent."

"Well, Doctor?" Yvonne asked impatiently.

"This is a void ship," he answered, half-absently, still staring up at the sphere.

"And what is that?"

The Doctor turned, folding away the 3-D glasses and stuffing them in his pockets hurriedly. "Well, it's impossible for starters. I always thought it was just a theory, but... it's a vessel designed to exist outside time and space. Travelling through the Void."

"That thing protects you from the Void? I thought that was impossible." Jack said as the Doctor sat down on the steps to talk to them.

"And what's 'the Void'?" Rajesh asked impatiently, looking between them.

"The space between dimensions. There's all sorts of realities around us, different dimensions – billions of parallel universes all stacked up against each other. The Void is the space in between. Containing absolutely nothing. Imagine that – nothing. No light, no dark, no up, no down. No life. No time. Without end. My people called it the Void, the Eternals call it the Howling. But some people call it Hell."

"Worse than Hell. At least in Hell you'd have the devils to keep you entertained," Jack joked, in an attempt to lighten the mood. The Doctor just rolled his eyes, as the other two ignored him.

"But someone must have built the sphere. What for? Why go there?" Raj questioned. Jack sighed. Nothing ever seemed to be able to distract scientists properly.

"To explore. To escape," the Doctor mused, staring past them. "You could sit inside that thing and eternity would pass you by. The Big Bang... end of the universe, start of the next, wouldn't even touch the sides. You'd exist outside the whole of creation."

Yvonne smirked. "You see, we were right. There  _is_  something inside it."

The Doctor met her penetrating gaze. "Oh yes."

Yvonne seemed to falter at his tone. Jack raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who shook his head.

"So how do we get in there?" Raj asked, oblivious. The Doctor stood.

"We don't! We send that thing back into Hell. How did it get here in the first place?" He walked down the steps towards them, totally serious now. Jack tried and failed to hide his grin. This was the Doctor he knew.

"Well, that's how it all started," Yvonne explained, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "The sphere came through into this world, and the ghosts followed in it's wake."

"Show me," the Doctor commanded flatly, striding towards the door. Yvonne exchanged an exasperated glance with Raj, raised her eyebrows at Jack, who was still grinning, and walked off after him.

"No, Doctor!" she called out, as the alien turned left instead of right.

Jack laughed, and followed them out of the room, not even glancing back at the bemused Rajesh.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my awesome beta – Eilonwyn at FF.net

They had moved to the top of Torchwood tower, and now Yvonne had started showing off the 'ghost shift room', as they all called it now. It was a remarkably plain room for what was probably the most important room in the building at the moment, second only to the Sphere Room.

"The sphere came through here. A hole in the world," Yvonne stated impressively as they neared the plain white wall at the end of the room. "Not active at the moment. But when we fire particle engines at that exact spot, the breach opens up."

The Doctor had stepped forward, running his hand over the vast white wall.

"How did you even find it?" he asked curiously, stepping a few paces back from the wall and frowning. The Doctor thought something was wrong about the wall, but then Jack already knew that.

"Well, we were getting warning signs for years. A radar black-spot. So we built this place. Torchwood Tower. The breach was six hundred feet above sea level. It was on the only way to reach it," Yvonne replied.

"We only moved in a year ago. Much better place than the old Head Quarters, lots more room," Jack put in, just as the Doctor pulled the 3-D glasses out of his pocket again and put them on. Jack frowned.  _Cause or correlation?_  he asked himself.

"You built a skyscraper just to reach a spatial disturbance? How much money have you got?" the Doctor questioned, a note of incredulity in his voice.

Yvonne smirked. "Enough." Turning, she walked towards her office at the back of the room, where Jackie was still standing.

The Doctor pulled his glasses off again, still contemplating the wall. Jack stepped forwards to stand next to him, grinning as the Doctor glanced sideways at him.

"What is it then?" he finally asked quietly, pointing with one finger at the 3-D glasses the Doctor was still clutching in his hand.

"Void Stuff. Background radiation from living in the void. Expected on the sphere – it is a void ship after all – but this wall, and the ghosts... something's not adding up," the Doctor murmured, stuffing the glasses back into his pocket.

"Hang on a minute! This is Canary Wharf! Must be! This building, it's Canary Wharf!" Jackie exclaimed from behind them. Both men exchanged glances, and turned to walk back towards them.

"Well, that is the public name for it," Yvonne was replying, "but to those in the know, it's Torchwood."

The Doctor leapt forward at this point, leaning up against the wall, but still managing to look authoritative.

"So, you find the breach, probe it, the sphere comes through. Six hundred feet above London, bam. It leaves a hole in the fabric of reality. And that hole, you think, 'Oh, shall we leave it alone? Shall we back off? Shall we play it safe?' Nah, you think 'let's make it BIGGER!'"

Yvonne was looking rather disgruntled at this, and she shook her head. "That's what Jack keeps saying. But this, Doctor, is a massive source of energy. If we can work out how to harness the power, we need never depend on the Middle East again! Britain will become truly independent."

The Doctor didn't look convinced. Glancing down at her watch, Yvonne tried again. "Look, you can see for yourself. Next Ghost Shifts in two minutes."

"Cancel it," the Doctor said quietly.

"I don't think so," Yvonne returned smartly, walking away from the Doctor.

"I'm warning you, cancel it!" the Doctor followed, his voice raising in slight anger as she ignored him.

Yvonne finally snapped . Jack knew she wouldn't be able to keep up her good mood for long, not with the Doctor antagonising her. She turned on her heel to face him, glaring up at him angrily.

"Oh, exactly as the legends would have it. The Doctor, lording it over us. Assuming alien authority over the rights of Man."

The Doctor didn't miss a beat.

"Let me show you." He turned and moved back towards one of the glass panes that separated Yvonne's office from the main part of the room. Jack grinned as he pulled the sonic screwdriver out from his pocket, aiming it at the glass.

"Sphere comes through." He activated the screwdriver and the glass splintered outwards. Yvonne glanced down at it. Jack could see the annoyance in her face at the Doctor's destruction of her office. "But when it made the hole, it cracked the world around it. The entire surface of this dimension, splintered. And that's how the ghosts get through. That's how they get everywhere. They're bleeding through the fault lines. Walking from their world, across the Void, and into yours. With the Human Race hoping and wishing and helping them along! But too many ghosts, and..." The glass had continued to splinter as the Doctor spoke, and as the alien lifted his hand up and touched the glass lightly with one finger, it shattered, falling to the floor.

Jack was pleased to see that Yvonne actually looked slightly worried. But, as usual, she ignored the warning, her pride stopping her from giving in.

"Well in that case we'll have to be more careful." She turned to address the staff. "Positions! Ghost shift in one minute."

The Doctor strode over to her, shaking his head. "Ms Hartman, I am asking you, please don't do it."

"We have done this a thousand times!" she retorted.

"Then stop at a thousand!" the Doctor yelled at her, frustrated.

"We are in control of the ghosts." Jack snorted, but was ignored by both parties, although Jackie gave him a funny look. "The levers can open the breach, but equally they can close it!"

The Doctor stared at her, Jack could see the battle of wills. He spoke up. "Yvonne, maybe you should..."

But the Doctor interrupted him.

"Okay." His tone was much lighter, but Jack could see the dark storm of emotion in his eyes. Yvonne might have thought she'd won the battle, but Jack knew differently.

"Sorry?" Yvonne looked utterly bemused.

"Never mind! As you were." The Doctor grabbed a chair from the office, pulling it forward and making himself comfortable.

"What, is that it?" Yvonne questioned.

"No! Fair enough. Said my bit. Don't mind me. Any chance of a cup of tea?" The Doctor glanced up at Jack as he said the last bit, who rolled his eyes and shook his head at him.

"I ain't the tea boy Doctor."

"Ghost shift in twenty seconds," one of the workers –  _Adeola,_ Jack thought to himself - called out.

"Mm! Can't WAIT to see it!" Jack could detect a dark undertone in his voice, and it seemed Yvonne could too.

"You can't stop us Doctor."

"No. Absolutely not." He looked round at Jackie, who was smirking. She seemed to have figured it out as well. Maybe she'd been in Yvonne's position at some point, Jack mused. "Pull up a chair Rose! Come and watch the fireworks."

Jack resisted the urge to smile as the Doctor called Jackie Rose, and he moved around the stand in the office. He didn't want to get involved in this battle of wills, so different from the first. He shifted uneasily as Adeola started counting down.

"Ghost shift in ten seconds... nine... eight... seven..."

The Doctor was just staring eerily at Yvonne, a small smile on his face, daring her to go through with it. Jack could feel her nervousness.

"Six... five... four... three... two..."

Yvonne broke.

"Stop the shift. I said stop."

The Doctor smiled at her, genuinely this time.

"Thank you."

"I suppose it makes sense to get as much intelligence as possible. But the program will recommence, as soon as you've explained everything," Yvonne replied quickly, trying to regain her pride.

"I'm glad to be of help," the Doctor said.

"I'll bet you are," Jack muttered.

Yvonne turned to Jack, scowling, not having heard what he'd said but recognising it as insubordination. "Get someone clearing this glass up. They did warn me Doctor," she continued as she turned back to him, "they told me you liked to make a mess."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

By the time Jack had called one of the cleaners up to clear up the glass, supervised it, and made his way back to the office, the Doctor and Yvonne were sitting comfortably, the Doctor's feet resting on her desk. Jack could tell she wasn't pleased about that, but was letting it slide as she was getting some decent information out of the man.

"So these ghosts, whatever they are - did they build the sphere?"

"Must have done," the Doctor replied."Aimed it at this dimension like a cannon ball." He was about to elaborate, but the computer screen in front of them suddenly changed, turning fuzzy. Jack leant forward and tapped a couple of buttons, clearing the picture. He raised his eyebrows as the picture came into view: Rose was sitting next to Rajesh, staring into the web-cam. Jack grinned elatedly behind Yvonne's back.

"Yvonne? I think you should see this. We've got a visitor." Rajesh explained drily, "We don't know who she is, but funnily enough, she arrived at the same time as the Doctor,"

Yvonne frowned slightly, and turned the screen so the Doctor could see. The Doctor stared at it, his face blank.

"She one of yours?" Yvonne asked lightly.

"Never seen her before in my life," he replied easily, shaking his head. Jack winced. That tactic wouldn't work with Yvonne.

As if on cue, his boss smirked at the Doctor. "Good! Then we can have her shot."

Jack winced. The Doctor's eyes darkened as he swung his feet off the table, although he kept his tone perfectly jovial.

"Oh alright then. It was worth a try. That's... that's Rose Tyler."

"Sorry! Hello!" Rose waved at the Doctor, who smiled, waving back. Jack wondered inwardly whether Rose had seen him. Although, if she had, she'd somehow figured out not to say anything...

"Well, if that's Rose Tyler, who's  _she_?" Yvonne demanded curiously.

"I'm her Mother." Jackie answered for herself.

"Oh, you travel with her Mother." Yvonne sounded amused now.

"Interesting," Jack had to put in. All three of them looked darkly at him for that.

"He kidnapped me!" Jackie protested.

"Even more interesting..." Jack repeated, but again no-one responded verbally, the Doctor merely glancing at him exasperatedly.

"Please, when Torchwood comes to write my complete history, don't tell people I travelled through time and space with her mother..." the Doctor begged Yvonne, who laughed.

"Charming," Jackie snapped.

"I've got a reputation to uphold!" the Doctor protested, as though it was the most obvious thing in the universe.

That was when the ghost shift started up again.

The Doctor and Jack exchanged confused glances, as Yvonne got to her feet, stalking out of the office to yell at the staff.

"Excuse me? Everyone? I thought I said stop the ghost shift." But Matt, Adeola and Gareth ignored her, staring straight ahead, typing at inhuman speeds. "Who started the program? But – I ordered you to stop! Who's doing that?"

Jack and the Doctor glanced towards the lever as Yvonne pointed at it; it was rising upwards by itself.

"Right, step away from the monitors, everyone!" But nobody moved. Panicking, Yvonne moved closer.

"Gareth, Addy – stop what you're doing, right now! Matt, step away from your desk. That's an order!"

"Stop the levers!" Jack yelled racing round the Doctor to help the poor technicians who were struggling against the invisible force that was pulling the levers.

"What's she doing?" The Doctor asked, slightly darkly, striding over to Adeola's desk. Jack, struggling with a lever, glanced up at them.

"Addy, step away from the desk." But Adeola ignored Yvonne's frantic commands, and didn't even respond when the Doctor snapped his fingers in front of her.

"Mind control?" Jack gasped out, still struggling.

The Doctor glanced down at him. "Maybe, but it's too strong. There must be a second component."

"Listen to me! Step away from the desk!" Yvonne continued, and the Doctor turned to her.

"She can't hear you." He stared at the computer screen. "They're overriding the system. We're going into ghost shift."

They all stared anxiously at the plain white wall as the light brightened.

Eventually the Doctor pulled his gaze away from it, staring at Adeola.

"It's the ear-piece," he said finally. "It's controlling them. I've seen this before."

"That's the second component?" Jack asked, abandoning their futile tries of stopping the lever. But the Doctor didn't answer, pulling the sonic screwdriver from his pocket.

"Sorry. I'm so sorry," he murmured, before activating it, pointing it at Adeola's ear piece.

She gave a gasp and screamed, as did Matt and Gareth, before they all slumped forward onto their desks. Jack could tell from the Doctor's expression that they were dead.

"What happened? What did you just do?" Yvonne asked, aghast.

"They're dead," the Doctor declared softly, turning away to examine the computer.

"You killed them," Jackie said, aghast.

"Oh, someone else did that long before I got here."

"But you killed them!" Jackie yelled, sounding slightly hysterical.

"Jackie, I haven't got time for this!" the Doctor yelled back angrily.

"What are those ear-pieces?" Yvonne asked quickly.

"Don't," the Doctor replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"But they're standard comms. devices - how does it control them?" Yvonne was sounding slightly frantic now. Admittedly, she had just lost three of her best staff, and no-one knew what was going on, but Jack felt a good leader should be doing their best to work something out, not just standing there stuck on things past.

The Doctor leapt to his feet, crossing the room to Matt's computer. "Trust me, leave them alone!"

"But what are they?" Yvonne moved forward, grabbing Addy's earpiece and tugging, hard. It came off, but with a trail of brain tissue attached to it. Both Yvonne and Jackie made sounds of disgust. "Oh, God. It goes inside their brain."

"How else do you expect mind control to work?" Jack shot at his boss. "Although I must admit that I haven't seen it done so crudely in quite a while."

"What about the ghost shift?" the Doctor asked loudly from the back of the room.

"It's ninety percent there... and still running. Can't you stop it?" She stepped across the room to peer over the Doctor's shoulder at whatever he was doing on the computer.

"They're still controlling it. They've hi-jacked the system."

"Who's  _they_?"

The Doctor ignored her, the sonic screwdriver in his hand once more.

"It might be a remote transmitter but it's gotta be close by. I can trace it." He was holding the sonic flat on his palm, and it was bleeping methodically. Rushing towards the door, he yelled, "Jackie stay here!"

"But...!" she protested.

The Doctor paused at the door, looking back at her.

""The Captain will look after you. You'll be fine," he said reassuringly.

Jack glanced over at the Doctor and nodded grimly. "I'll keep monitoring the shift."

The Doctor nodded once, and raced out the door, Yvonne following him.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Jack grinned at Jackie and turned back to the computer, watching as the figures rose to ninety-two percent.

"Who are you really then?" Jackie asked from behind him.

"Huh?" was Jack's eloquent reply.

"The Doctor just entrusted you with my life. He wouldn't do that to someone he just met. And don't think I didn't see the glances you two kept exchanging. I'm not stupid y'know."

Jack turned to stare at her. "Is now really the time?"

"Okay, tell me one thing. How do you know the Doctor?"

"I met him and Rose in WWII," Jack replied, thinking that throwing in Rose's name might distract her a little. "Back when he was all leather and big ears. We travelled for a while."

"Why did you leave then? My Rose goes on like she's never gonna want to leave him."

"I didn't leave. I... I got stuck." Before he could elaborate any further, he was interrupted by one of the technicians.

"Captain, come and help!" They were still desperately trying to stop the levers. Jack moved towards them, and started heaving at a lever as the light slowly became brighter, and the situation became more frantic.

Jack stopped work as he heard heavy footsteps marching up the stairs. Frowning, he moved towards the doorway, only to be forced backwards as metal men entered the room, escorting Yvonne and the Doctor, who both had their hands on their heads in a sign of surrender.

"Get away from the machines - do what they say, don't fight them!" the Doctor yelled at the staff.

"Doctor, what's going on? What are they?" Jack asked, abandoning all pretence of not knowing him now. The situation was too desperate.

The cybermen lifted their arms up and revealed laser weapons built into them. They shot down the technicians who were still struggling with the levers. Jack stared, aghast.

"What are they?" Jackie repeated fearfully.

"We are the Cybermen. The Ghost Shift will be increased to one hundred percent," one of the cybermen, obviously the leader, droned. He put a metal hand against the metal disc on his chest, and the levers started rising again, more quickly this time.

"Online," The automatic computer voice said calmly. Quite ironically, Jack thought to himself.

"Here come the ghosts," the Doctor said, defeated.

"But these zybermen, what've they got to do with the ghosts?" Jackie asked the Doctor quietly.

"Don't you ever listen? A footprint doesn't look like a boot!"

"Achieving full transfer," a cyberman intoned.

"They're cybermen. All of the ghosts are cybermen," he explained finally.

"And they're all over the world..." Jack continued, staring.

"Ready to upgrade millions." The Doctor was still gazing into the harsh white light as a formation of ghosts appeared, marching forward as though across a bridge.

"They're invading the whole planet," Yvonne stated flatly, as though only just realising what exactly was going on.

"It's not an invasion, it's too late for that. It's a victory," the Doctor replied darkly, staring at the hundreds of cybermen standing front of them, ready for battle.

Jack turned to him. "So, what're we gonna do?"

The Doctor grinned at Jack's undefeated nature, but shook his head. "I have no idea. I've fought cybermen before, many times, but I've only fought these once. They're parallel cybermen, they're different. Last time we fought them we had the cyber factory to broadcast a signal, but..."

The Doctor trailed off as the flashing computer screen caught his eye. Jack followed his gaze as the Doctor didn't continue, and the Doctor heard him swear under his breath.

Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Sphere activated. Jack

reached forward and hit the enter button violently, stopping the flashing words. The Doctor had a dark look in his eyes, brow furrowed, staring at the screen. Jack was about to speak when the Doctor moved forwards suddenly, brushing past Jack to speak to what looked like the cyber-leader.

"What I don't understand is, Cybermen don't have the technology to build the Void Ship, that's WAY beyond you. How did you create that sphere?" There was a dark edge to his voice that Jack recognised from when they'd been trapped on the Gamestation trying to find Rose.

"The sphere is not ours," came the monotone drawl from the Cyberman.

"What?" The Doctor was stunned, and Yvonne and Jackie were gaping openly at them.

"The sphere broke down the barriers between worlds. We only followed. Its origin is unknown," the Cyberman explained, before turning away to command the other Cyber-units.

"Then what's inside it?" the Doctor asked fearfully, half-turning back to

them, his eyes meeting Jack's anxiously.

"Rose is down there," Jackie gasped, terrified.

Jack watched as the Doctor's gaze darkened dangerously again. Jack smiled humourlessly to himself. Now the fun was beginning...


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, thanks to my awesome beta – Eilonwyn at FF.net

The Cybermen had pushed them away from the computers, forcing Yvonne into her office to do something or other – Jack hadn't taken much notice. The Doctor, Jack, Yvonne and Jackie were left to stand at the side of the room, watching as the Cybermen made plans to decimate and upgrade the entire world.

"What's down there?"Jackie was frantic, looking from the Doctor to Jack in anxiety. "She was in that room with the sphere. What's happened to Rose?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied abruptly, leaning back against the wall, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.

Jackie started to sob. Jack couldn't blame her, really. The Doctor looked down at her and quickly stepped towards her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'll find her. I brought you here, I'll get you both out. You and your daughter. Jackie, look at me. Look at me." Jackie looked up at him, eyes brimming with tears. "I promise you. I give you my word." His tone was totally sincere, and Jack knew that even if he hadn't promised, the Doctor would do anything in his power to get Rose and Jackie out safely, even if that meant sacrificing himself.

It had happened before, after all.

Jack glanced around as, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a Cyberman approach Yvonne, who was sitting at her desk.

"You will talk to your central world authority and order global surrender," it droned.

"Oh, do some research. We haven't  _got_  a central world authority," Yvonne sneered, without a trace of fear. She might be a bit conceited and arrogant, but Jack had to admit that she  _was_ brave.

"You have now. I will speak on all global wavelengths," the Cyberman replied, unperturbed.

Jack tuned out the Cyberman's speech, turning back to talk to the Doctor instead.

"So, Doc, this Void Stuff. What does it mean? Can we use it?"

"The Cybermen and the sphere both came through the Void. They're covered in the Stuff, literally bristling with it. But it's not that useful. It just tells me where they came from. Well," he elaborated, "I know where the Cybermen came from. But whatever's down in that sphere... it shouldn't be here either."

"Jack!" Yvonne called, staring out of the window. The three moved over to stare at the destruction below. People fighting, dying, houses and buildings being blown apart.

The Cyberman seemed confused. "I ordered surrender!"

"They're not taking instructions. Don't you understand? You're on every street – you're in their homes. You've got their children. Of course they're gonna fight." The Doctor turned away from the Cyberman in disgust, brushing past Jack and moving out of the office to watch the others.

Jack followed him. "Doctor, how are we gonna get down there?"

"We're not. Not until we know exactly what was in that sphere."

"But we gotta get Rose out of there!" Jack replied urgently.

"I know, Jack. I know..."

Yvonne's voice interrupted them. "Jack? Doctor? What are you on about?"

Startled, both men turned to face her. Jack cursed. She must have followed them without them realising. Of all the times she could have worked out that Jack was loyal to the Doctor and not Torchwood, it had to be now.

"Getting Rose out of that chamber, and finding a way to defeat the Cybermen. Solving a problem which this world could easily have done without," the Doctor said, ending his sentence with a dark glare at Yvonne.

"How long have you known him then? How long have you been a traitor to the crown?"

"Y'know, now's not really the time to be finding traitors within your organisation is it? But to answer your question, I've known and been loyal to the Doctor since  _before_  I joined Torchwood. But seeing as technically, I wasn't born British, I don't even exist. So how can I be a traitor?" Jack grinned at the gobsmacked expression on her face, before turning back to the Doctor, intending to ignore her.

Unfortunately, she didn't give him a chance. "I could still have you executed. You may not be a traitor, but if you're allied with him then you're a danger to the homeland."

"I'd like to see you try," Jack replied, smirking. "Anyway, Doc, you were saying?"

The Doctor hadn't been paying attention to the exchange between the two, instead watching one of the computer screens carefully as a Cyberman slowly used it. He glanced at Jack, startled, trying to remember exactly what he'd been saying before.

"Right. Yes. Of course getting Rose out of there is exceedingly important, Jack, but right now, that wouldn't help matters. There's no way we can get down there without the Cybermen slaughtering us."

"Us. You mean you. Cos, Doc, I think there's something you need to know..." Jack started, his tone faintly bitter.

"I know, Jack. I could sense it the minute you stepped into the room. Time Lord instinct. You have become a fixed point in time."

"That's a new phrase for immortal," Jack said, raising his eyebrows. "So, why shouldn't I go and find Rose?"

"Jack, do you know how the Cybermen work?" the Doctor asked. Jack shook his head. "They convert people. Cut out the brain and stick it inside a metal suit with an emotional inhibitor to stop them going insane. Destroy the inhibitor, and you'll find the human is still very much alive and thinking inside the metal. If they get their hands on you, Jack, if they convert you, it wouldn't be fatal. Your body wouldn't resist it. You'd still be you. Still be a fixed point in time. And then there'd be an immortal Cyberman walking the streets. And if you can't kill the Cyberman, then there is no way to stop it. Cybermen are clever, they're logical, and if there was one that could never be destroyed..."

"Oh, God," Jack murmured.

"Exactly. Word of advice, Jack: don't let them upgrade you. I'm sorry to say this, but getting killed would be better. They're logical; they'd never think to check on a body that should, logically, be dead."

"Are you saying that Jack can't die?" Yvonne exclaimed, interrupting them again.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," the Doctor replied suavely. Jack grinned - slightly maliciously - at his superior.

"I lied. I didn't timetravel to the 1990's after joining in 1899." He told her smugly. "I worked at Torchwood 3 for almost a century until London saw fit to inspect us and then drag me away to work for you instead. Technically, I should be your superior. I've been working here since before you were born."

"Jack, enough with the showing off," the Doctor growled, just as the Cyberman at the computer spoke.

"Scans detect unknown technology active within sphere chamber."

"Took them long enough," Jack mumbled to the Doctor.

"Cybermen will investigate. Units 10-65 and 10-66 will investigate sphere chamber."

"And now we'll find out exactly what is in there..." the Doctor muttered.

"But Doc, what if it's some lesser species that the Cybermen are able to kill? Won't they take Rose, and the others, for... upgrading?" Jack asked suddenly, as the tension inside the rift chamber mounted.

The Doctor stared at Jack as though the thought had never crossed his mind. He was stopped from having to answer though, when the Cyberleader indirectly interrupted him.

"Units open visual link."

There was a pause, and the Doctor, Jack and Yvonne retreated so they could get a good view of the screen.

" _Visual contact established."_

The Cybermen marched along the corridor, the screen showing it as though one of them was wearing a head camera. Just as they were about five metres away from the door to the sphere chamber, it opened.

To reveal a Dalek.

The Doctor tensed and Jack swore - his worst nightmare come to life.

" _Identify yourselves_ _,"_  the Dalek droned.

" _You will identify first_ _,"_ one of the Cybermen replied.

"Great, the battle of the emotionless robots," Jack muttered, "Why did it have to be Daleks?"

"More to the point, why do the Daleks have a void ship?" The Doctor murmured, "And how many of them are there?"

" _State your identity_ _,_ _"_  the Dalek retorted.

" _You will identify first."_

" _Identify!"_

"Heck, it's like that Stephen Hawking episode. The one with the speaking clock," Jack laughed, trying to alleviate the tension.

" _Illogical. You will modify."_  The Cyberman sounded almost confused.

"Told you they were logical," the Doctor muttered.

" _Daleks do not take orders!"_ the Dalek screeched.

" _You have identified as Daleks."_

"Doctor? Rose said about the Daleks. She was terrified of them. What have they done to her Doctor? Is she dead?" Jackie was half-hysterical as she spoke. The Doctor turned away from the screen.

"Phone!" he hissed at her. Jackie stared. "Phone!" Jackie pulled a mobile out of her pocket and passed it silently to the Doctor, who quickly dialled Rose's number. He held it to his ear, frantic with worry.

Another pause.

"She's answered, she's alive," the Doctor whispered finally. Jack sighed in relief. "But why haven't they killed her?" he continued.

"Well don't complain!" Jackie snapped.

"They must need her for something. Maybe bait to get to you," Jack suggested.

"But how would they know I'm here?" He paused, listening. "A Genesis Ark?" he questioned.

"What?"

"One of the Daleks just said.  _We must protect the Genesis Ark?"_

"What's that?"

The Doctor shrugged, paused, and pulled out his 3-D glasses again, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he put them on.

" _Our species are similar, though your design is inelegant."_ Whilst the voice could still be heard through the computer speakers, it echoed out of the phone too. Luckily, the Cybermen didn't notice.

" _Daleks have no concept of elegance."_

" _That is obvious."_  The Cyberman told them flatly. Jack chuckled, despite the situation. Whoever thought that the meeting of the Daleks and Cybermen would be so funny?

The Cyberman continued. " _But consider - our technologies are compatible. Cybermen plus Daleks - together, we could upgrade the Universe."_

" _You propose an alliance?"_  For a being without emotions, the Dalek sounded quite incredulous.

" _That is correct."_

There was a slight pause, as if the Dalek was considering. Jack crossed his fingers. " _Request denied."_

There was a sound of moving metal and the visual suddenly showed that the Cybermen had their fists in front of them, ready to shoot.

" _Hostile elements will be deleted."_  Red lasers shot at the Dalek, but were deflected by the Dalek's armour.

" _Exterminate!"_ the Dalek screeched, and shot off two beams at the Cybermen.

The screen went fuzzy as the Cybermen went down.

"Well, we know who's got the advantage then," Jack mumbled.

The Cyberleader who had been standing in front of them moved. "Open visual link!" it commanded, staring into the webcam.

"Daleks, be warned: you have declared war upon the Cybermen."

" _This is not war. This is pest control_ _,"_ they heard the Dalek retort, though they could not see it.

"We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?"

" _Four."_

"Well, that's a relief," Jack breathed. They might just about manage four Daleks if they joined forces with the Cybermen.

"Don't count your chickens before they've hatched," the Doctor murmured, the phone still pressed to his ear.

"You would destroy the Cybermen with FOUR Daleks?" the Cyberleader questioned.

" _We would destroy the Cybermen with ONE Dalek._ _"_ The Doctor rolled his eyes at that, but there was a grim smile on his face as he acknowledged what the Dalek said as the truth.  _You are superior in only one respect."_

"What is that?"

The Doctor suddenly moved, stepping across the camera to stand behind the Cyberleader for a second before moving back towards them again. Jack frowned. Why was the Doctor letting them know that he was there?

" _You are better at dying. Raise communications barrier!"_

"Lost her." The Doctor moved the phone away from his ear as the signal went.

"What do we do now? How the heck are we supposed to defeat the Daleks? What did you do last time? Cos' when I woke up, they were dust. Did you figure out a way to destroy them?" Jack asked desperately.

"That wasn't me. And we can't use that method again anyway," the Doctor told him flatly. Yvonne stared between them.

"What are the Daleks?" she asked finally, frustrated.

The Doctor glanced at her, half-surprised, half-amused. "Are you telling me you have a full profile on me, yet you don't know who the Daleks are?"

"They don't have a full profile. And only half of it's accurate," Jack corrected. "Most of it was hacked from UNIT."

"Yeah, well, their files on me would be a bit out of date. I haven't worked with them properly since my fifth regeneration."

Jack was about to ask exactly how many regenerations the Doctor had had when there was a sudden mass of movement from the Cybermen.

"We will quarantine the Sphere Chamber. Start emergency upgrading. Begin with these personnel," the Cyberleader instructed, moving over to them first. He stared hard at the four, and halted.

"The male lifeforms' increased adrenaline suggests they have vital Dalek information. Take the others away."

Two Cybermen closed in on Yvonne and Jackie.

"No, you can't do this! We surrendered! We surrendered!" Yvonne yelled.

"You promised me! You gave me your word!" Jackie screamed at the Doctor, terrified out of her wits.

"I... I'll think of something, Jackie! Stay calm!" he yelled back, attempting to reassure her as she was dragged out of sight.

"At least there's no chance that Rose will be upgraded," Jack said quietly, placing a comforting hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

The Doctor sighed, watching the staff as they were marched out and away. "Small comfort, Jack."

The Cybermen seemed to be ignoring them now. The Doctor stepped back into the office, perching on the window sill to watch the ongoing battle outside. "They always survive," he murmured brokenly.

"Who?"

"The Daleks, the Cybermen... Sontarans, Autons..." He sighed. "Sometimes I wonder if it's really worth it."

Jack stared, wide eyed at him. The Doctor, the man who had changed Jack's dismal outlook on life, was now going down the same path Jack had been going down in the months before he'd quit the Time Agency. "It's always worth it. Cos the humans always survive. Remember, you used to call us the apes who'd do anything to survive." Jack didn't really know what else to say.

"Hmm," the Time Lord replied absently.

The cold, emotionless voice of a Cyberman interrupted them. "You are proof."

"Of what?" the Doctor asked, looking up it.

"That emotions destroy you."

The Doctor smiled grimly at that.

"Yeah, I am. Mind you, I quite like hope. Hope's a good emotion." He grinned, slightly cockily, looking past the Cyberman at the center of the near empty room. "And here it comes."

Jack whirled around to stare, as did the Cyberleader. And suddenly, out of thin air, a group of people in black appeared, all carrying large guns. Jack and the Doctor managed to dive out of the way just in time as destroyed the few Cybermen left in the room. The man in the middle shot directly at the Cyberleader, blasting its head off.

Then he looked towards them, lowering his gun.

"Doctor, good to see you again." The helmet was removed to reveal a young, blonde man with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Jake!" the Doctor exclaimed from Jack's side as he stood up.

"The Cybermen came through from one world to another - and so did we," Jake explained, flashing another grin at the pair before turning to his team. "Defend this room. Chrissie, monitor communications. Kill one Cyberleader and they just download into another. Move!"

Jack glanced around at the Doctor to see the Time Lord (same question as always) wearing the 3-D glasses again.

"Did they... come from the void then?" he asked quietly.

"Crossed the void," the Doctor corrected. "But you can't just – just – just HOP from one world to another. You CAN'T," he told Jake, the only one of the team left in the room.

"We just did."Jake replied confidently. "With these." Jack grinned. The guy reminded him of himself when he'd first met the Doctor. Cocky, confident, yet still slightly in awe of the Timelord. Jake chucked a large yellow-and-metal disc at the Doctor, who fielded it neatly.

"But that's impossible. You can't have this sort of technology," he said, bemused, as he examined it.

"We've got our own version of Torchwood. They developed it. Do you wanna come and see?" He held up his own device, as if to press it, and Jack tensed.

"NO!" the Doctor yelled, but it was too late. Jake pressed the button. In the same split second, Jack grabbed hold of the Doctor's arm.

Pain consumed his whole body. And everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my awesome beta Eilonwyn at FF.net, who I probably couldn't have done this without

Three figures appeared out of nowhere in a dark, abandoned room. One of them slumped to the floor. The others turned staring in shock.

"Now look what you've done!" the Doctor yelled at Jake exasperatedly. He knelt down beside Jack's limp body, a dark expression on his face.

Jake stared aghast at the dead man, all the cockiness gone from his attitude.

"How the heck was I supposed to know he'd do that?" he asked quietly.

The Doctor ignored him, not looking up from Jack, even as he heard another person enter the room. Jack was infinitely more important at the moment. He'd let him down once... never again.

"My God, what happened?" a voice asked. Pete Tyler's voice, the Doctor's mind registered, as he began counting down in his head, his hand holding Jack's wrist.

"The guy grabbed hold of the Doctor as I activated the Dimension Jump," Jake explained.

The Doctor heard footsteps coming closer, but he didn't even glance up as Pete spoke. "Doctor... I'm sorry Doctor, but you can't do anything for him. The Dimension Jump is only meant to carry one..."

The Doctor tuned out as his mental count neared zero. What they were saying didn't matter right now. It could always be repeated later on if it was important. Not that it was likely to be – at least, not to him.

He felt a pulse return to the wrist he was holding.

Jack lurched upwards, grasping frantically at the Doctor as he gasped for breath.

"I've got you, Jack. You're okay."

Jack grinned weakly at the alien. "Thanks Doc." He groaned. "God, it's been a while since that happened."

Someone spluttered behind them.

"But... he should be dead... he  _was_  dead!" Jake exclaimed. Pete, however, was looking at the Doctor suspiciously.

"Some power you never told us about, Doctor?"

The Doctor stared up at him, his expression unreadable. "Nobody should ever have the power to bring back the dead, Pete. And no, I didn't do that. Jack happens to be an anomaly in time. A fixed point." He grinned at the bemused look on their faces and stood up, pulling Jack to his feet as he did so. "Anyway, no time for chit-chat I'm afraid. We need to get back. Rose is in danger. And her Mother."

"Jackie," Pete said wryly. "My wife in a parallel universe."

"Yes, well done Pete! But we've gotta get back. Right now!"

"No, you're not in charge here. This is our world, not yours. And you're gonna listen for once," Pete declared calmly, gazing at the Doctor with an air of superiority. The Doctor stared back darkly.

A battle of wills, similar to the one between the Doctor and Yvonne that Jack had witnessed earlier, commenced. This time, however, the outcome was different: the Doctor had to admit defeat. After all, it wasn't as though they could get back without the guys' Dimension Jumps.

"Well, you'd better hurry up and start talking then," the Doctor told Pete, "we don't have all day." He turned abruptly away from Pete and marched up to the white expanse of wall, so similar to the one in their own universe. "Starting, with this room. You have exactly the same breech up here as in our universe, right? Or this tower wouldn't have been built in the first place."

"Yes. Years ago" was Pete's simple answer.

"So, what happened?" Jack asked, getting impatient as the Doctor examined the wall and Pete just stood and watched him.

"We found out what the institute was doing and the people's republic took control," Jake replied.

"When the Doctor left this world, he warned us there'd be more Cybermen. So we sealed them inside the factories," Pete explained.

"Except people argued. Said they were living. We should HELP them," Jake put in.

"And the debate went on," Pete continued, "but all that time, the Cybermen made plans. Infiltrated this version of Torchwood, mapped themselves onto your world, and then vanished."

"When was this?" the Doctor asked finally, turning away from the wall.

"Three years ago."

Jack stared. "Woah, hold up. We've only had ghosts for the past, what, two months. How is that possible?"

"Must be the sheer mass of five million Cybermen crossing all at once. They wouldn't have enough power, seeing as we blew up their central command factory last time I was here," the Doctor explained with a cheeky grin at Pete. Pete chuckled.

"Yeah, Mickey said you'd rattle off that sort of stuff."

Jack quirked an eyebrow. "Mickey the idiot? He was here?"

"He decided to stay here after we crashed here last time," the Doctor said calmly, a small smile on his face.

"He was travelling with you?" Jack asked incredulously. Mickey the idiot, travelling with the Doctor? This regeneration must be more different than Jack had thought.

"He proved his worth, after we ran into some Krillitanes."

"You were at the Deffry Vale incident?"

"Yeah. Anyway, back to the point. Where is Mickey-boy?"

"He went ahead first. Any chance to go and find Miss Rose Tyler," Pete explained flatly.

The Doctor looked at him curiously. "She's your daughter. You do know that? Did Mickey explain?"

"She's not mine," Pete returned, slightly coldly. "She's the child of a dead man."

"I suppose that's what any children of mine would say," Jack quipped lightly, walking over to the window. The other men followed.

"Look at it. A world of peace. They're calling this 'The Golden Age'." Pete laughed hollowly.

"Who's the President now?" the Doctor asked.

"President?" Jack said, confused.

"A woman named Harriet Jones," Pete replied.

The Doctor scowled slightly at the mention of her name. "I'd keep an eye on her."

"But it's a lie. Temperatures have risen by two degrees in the past six months. The ice caps are melting. They're saying all this is gonna be flooded. That's not just global warming, is it?" Pete sounded desperate, as though hoping the Doctor would contradict him, tell him it  _was_  just global warming, nothing to worry about. But the Doctor's expression became more serious.

"No."

There was a pause.

"It's the breach," Pete asserted sombrely.

"I've been trying to tell you - travel between parallel worlds is impossible. Then the Daleks break down the walls with the sphere..." The Doctor was starting to sound annoyed again – probably all the doom and gloom was getting to him.

"Daleks?" Pete asked, but the Doctor ignored him, continuing to rant.

"Then the Cybermen travelled across, then you lot - those disks - every time you jump from one reality to another, you rip a hole in the universe. This planet is starting to boil. Keep going and BOTH worlds will fall into the Void." He was almost leaping around now in frustration. Jack was finding it hard not to grin. This was the Doctor he knew, saving the humans and insulting them at the same time.

"But you can stop it - the famous Doctor...? You can seal the breach?" Pete persisted.

"Leaving five million Cybermen stranded on my Earth."

"That's your problem. I'm protecting this world, and this world only," Pete said coldly.

Jack raised his eyebrows, but the Doctor laughed softly, staring at the man. "Huh... Pete Tyler... I knew you when you were dead. Now here you are, fighting the fight...  _alone_..." He paused, as though for effect, and stepped closer to Pete. "There is a chance... back on my world... Jackie Tyler might still be alive."

Pete swallowed, fighting an inner battle. "My wife died."

"Her husband died. Good match," the Doctor retorted without missing a beat.

"There's more important things at stake..." Pete still sounded cold, but Jack could tell that the poor guy was trying to stop himself getting his hopes up, forcing himself to concentrate. "Doctor... help us," Pete pleaded.

"What? Close the breach? Stop the Cybermen? Defeat the Daleks? Do you believe we can do that?" The Doctor had a twinkle in his eye that had been missing a moment ago. Jack grinned again.

"Yes," Pete replied solidly.

"Maybe that's all we needed." The Doctor grinned widely. "Off we go then!" He grabbed one of the Dimension Jumps off the diminishing pile at the side and threw it to Jack. The Doctor then pressed down on his own, finally bringing them back to their world.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Well, first off, I need to make a phone call. Jack, your phone?" the Doctor said quickly, holding out his hand . Jack stared pointedly at the phone on the desk in front of them, but at the Doctor's glare he pulled his mobile out of his pocket.

"You two, guard the door," Jake said,from somewhere behind Jack, to some of his team. Pete merely stood and watched the Doctor, confused.

There was a pause as the Doctor waited for the call to be picked up. Finally, he grinned widely.

"Jackie, you're alive!" he half-yelled cheerfully. "Now listen..." He paused, wincing and moving the phone slightly further from his ear. Jack, stepping closer, could hear Jackie screeching down the line.

"They tried to download me but I ran away!"

"Listen, tell me – where are you?" the Doctor interrupted quickly.

"I don't know, staircase!" was her hysterical reply. The Doctor looked to the heavens in exasperation.

"Yeah, which one? Is there any— any sort of sign? Anything to identify it?"

"Yes! A fire extinguisher!"

Jack and Pete exchanged glances.

"Yeah, that helps!" the Doctor replied sarcastically.

"Oh wait a minute, it says N3!" Jackie told him. The Doctor glanced up at Jack questioningly.

"North three. 'Bout ten minutes' run away from here," Jack told him quickly.

The Doctor nodded. "Okay, Jackie, just stay low for now. We're doing our best."

"No, don't leave me!" Jackie screeched down the phone despairingly.

"I've gotta, I'm sorry!" the Doctor replied quickly, ending the call.

He glanced up at Pete and grinned cheekily. "Jacqueline Andrea Suzette Tyler." There was meaning behind his words, and Pete just stared back at him, shaking his head at the Doctor's implied words.

"She's not my wife."

"I was at the wedding. You got her name wrong," the Doctor accused, brushing past Pete, who stared after him incredulously.

He entered the office, where Jack was now attempting to break the lock on a safe under Yvonne's desk. The Doctor stifled a grin, pulled out his sonic screwdriver and quickly zapped the door open.

"See how useful a screwdriver can be Jack?" he murmured, kneeling down beside him.

Jack smiled slightly in appreciation, and pulled a leather wrist-strap out of the safe: his Vortex Manipulator.

"Why was that in there?" the Doctor asked.

"Yvonne wanted to make sure I wouldn't disappear without her knowing. Not that I could, it burnt out when I first landed in 1869," Jack replied wryly, strapping it back onto his wrist, and pressing a few buttons. He glanced sideways at the Doctor. "I don't suppose there's a chance you could fix it?"

The Doctor smirked. "Fix that bit of primitive time-travel? Easily. But only short-range teleport for now. The Daleks will be able to sense anything more powerful than that."

"Better than nothing, I suppose," Jack mused as the Doctor grabbed his wrist and started sonic-ing the vortex manipulator.

About twenty seconds later he released him. "There you are, see? Easy!"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Thanks." He pressed a few buttons, and there was a blue flash before a hologram of the building appeared. Jack frowned at it. "The sphere chamber is shielded, I can't tell what's in there, but the Cybermen conversion units seem to be five floors below us." He pointed to the hologram. "The sphere chamber is on the ground floor, and there are Cyber-security guards on all the stair corridors three floors down from here." Jack glanced towards the Doctor who was staring at the hologram, considering. "Any plans yet, Doc?"

"Don't call me Doc. It makes you sound like Bugs Bunny. Jackie was on N3... the conversion unit was five floors down?"

Jack blinked at the sudden subject change. "Yeah."

"Well, the Cybermen aren't going to kill us yet. they don't know enough about the Daleks, as they're from the other world. We can probably manage to ally with them, to get down to the sphere chamber... They need us to defeat the Daleks"

"And then set them against each other, the Daleks defeating most of the Cybermen while we escape and figure out how to defeat the Daleks!" Jack interrupted, finishing triumphantly. He and the Doctor shared a grin.

"Exactly." the Doctor glanced over at Pete, who was conversing quietly with Jake, and frowned. "First we need to get to Jackie. If the Cybermen find her first, she's in big trouble. And so am I," he finished speculatively, sighing.

Jack placed a reassuring hand on the Doctor's shoulder. "We'll get out of this, Doctor. Somehow. We always do, don't we?"

"But with too many deaths." The Doctor sighed again, standing up. "Right, plan of action..."

"How about I go and find Jackie. I know the building better than you, I'll be quicker. You go with your new Cyberman pals and infiltrate the sphere chamber. I'll meet you there."

The Doctor nodded. "Got it."

Jack stood up and stepped towards the doorway.

"And Jack..." the Doctor called after him. Jack turned. "Be careful."

Jack grinned. "See ya in hell."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Jack raced along the corridor, veering sharply left as he neared a corner. He cautiously peered around the corner, sighing in relief as he saw no Cybermen. He took off, passing through a set of double doors, down some stairs, along, down, until he was three floors down. And then he paused.

He could hear the Cybermen in the next corridor. He couldn't get down any further. He would have to rely on the teleport, and hope that it would work accurately for once. He hit a button on the side and waited. And frowned as nothing happened. He stared at the tiny screen, confused. Suddenly a small, blue light in the corner flashed. He grinned to himself.

Pressing a few buttons, Jack glanced around once more, before disappearing in a flash of blue light.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Sensor reports short-range teleport attempt inside building," Dalek Caan screeched at the others.

"Re-locate destination of teleport. Transmat to us," Sec ordered. There was a pause. Rose and Mickey exchanged puzzled glances.

"Transmat engaged," Caan replied finally.

Captain Jack materialised in the middle of the room.

He gazed around once, and swore.

"Bollocks. Guess I'm in trouble now."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With thanks to my awesome beta Eilonwyn at FF.net, who has made this story so much better than it would have been without her.

_Captain Jack materialised in the middle of the room._

_He gazed around onc_ _e,_   _and swore._

" _Bollocks. Guess I'm in trouble now."_

"Jack!" a voice cried out. He turned to see Rose and Mickey huddled in the corner, guarded by two Daleks, staring at him in astonishment.

"The one and only!" he replied cheekily. "It's good to see ya," he added more quietly, sighing with relief. They hadn't been killed - yet. Not that that was necessarily a good thing: it meant that the Daleks must need them for something... like for whatever that Genesis Ark thing was.

Jack attempted to make his way over to them, only to be halted by one of the Daleks. "Alert! Sensors report human male is armed!"

Jack rolled his eyes, and pulled his hand gun out from it's holster. "You mean this?" he asked rhetorically, pulling his hand gun out of its holster and waving it in front of the Dalek. "I seriously doubt such a substandard _human_ weapon is really gonna harm the  _great Daleks_ ," he mocked sarcastically. Silence. Jack could almost feel the Daleks glaring at him. He sighed. "But if you're so bothered, take it." He chucked it over his shoulder, where it hit one of the Daleks with a  _c_ _lang_.

The Dalek didn't take kindly to that.

"Exterminate!"

Jack turned in a split-second to see a beam of energy heading his way. He knew he wouldn't have time to dodge, so he didn't even try – he merely hoped that Rose would forgive him for scaring her; she would think he was dead. And she had only just discovered that he wasn't dead today – she must have thought he'd died on the Gamestation.

The beam made contact, and for the second time that day, everything went black. Jack collapsed onto the floor.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Oh My God! They killed him!" Rose rushed to Jack's side, grabbing at the limp body on the floor, tears in her eyes. Jack was dead. They'd only just got him back, and now he was dead. Gone.

Mickey didn't say a word as he wrapped his arms around Rose and pulled her to her feet. He kept a close eye on the Daleks, who seemed to have decided to ignore them now, in favour of doing  _something_  to the Genesis Ark in the centre of the room.

"They killed him Mickey." Rose whispered in disbelief, still staring at Jack's body.

"I know." He hugged her gently, tightening his grip as the Daleks suddenly trundled backwards, away from the Ark.

"Final stage of awakening!" one screeched.

The black Dalek moved towards them. "Your hand print will open the Ark."

Rose glared at it. "Well, tough, 'cos I'm not doing it."

"Obey, or the male will die!" Sec retorted, it's weapon swivelling to aim at Mickey.

He tensed, keeping a tight hold of Rose, but she pulled herself free of him, stepping towards the Ark. "I can't let them."

"Rose, don't!" Mickey pleaded.

She stared back at him. "I can't lose you as well."

"Place your hand upon the casket," Dalek Sec encouraged her.

"All right!" she snapped, annoyed. "You're gonna kill us anyway, so what the hell?"

She was moving forward to place her hand on the golden metal when a voice from the doorway stopped her.

"Oh now, hold on, wait a minute." The Doctor's voice rang strong through the room as he sauntered in wearing his 3-D glasses. Rose smiled in delight, while Mickey just sighed in relief as the Daleks turned their weapons away from him and towards the Doctor.

"Alert, alert - you are the Doctor," the Daleks screeched.

"Sensors report he is unarmed," Dalek Thay reported.

The Doctor grinned. "That's me. Always."

"Then you are powerless," Sec intoned.

"Not me. Never!" the Doctor retorted playfully, pulling his specs off with a flourish. He wandered towards Rose. And that was when he noticed Jack, still lying limply on the floor.

The Doctor sighed heavily, kneeling down next to the body. "Oh, Rassilon. What did he do this time?"

Rose stared at him, shocked that the Doctor could be so flippant about Jack's death. Mickey answered his question hesitantly. "He chucked his gun away after they detected it, it hit one of them, and they shot him."

The Doctor sighed again. "Oh, Jack will you ever learn?" Shaking his head, he took Jack's wrist, waiting for the pulse to return. "So, what's been going on here then?" he asked, twisting around to face Rose.

"Nothin' much till Jack arrived. They want us to open that Genesis Ark thing," Rose replied.

"I figured that much. I..." the Doctor stopped himself as he felt a pulse return. He turned back to Jack, just as the man lurched back to life, wincing in pain.

Jack struggled to sit up, clinging to the Doctor's arm for support. "Damn. That was painful." He glanced around the room, at Rose and Mickey looking doubly shocked. "Well," Jack staggered to his feet, "I guess we have some explaining to do."

"Not right now," the Doctor disagreed. He stood up, glancing around the room anxiously. "Did you find Jackie?"

"What's happened to Mum?" Rose asked frantically.

The Doctor placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She's okay, Rose, she's alive. Jack was going to find her, and was gonna meet me here..." He looked over at Jack questioningly.

"They," Jack said, pointing at the Daleks, "detected and redirected my  _short-range_  teleport. Thanks for that."

The Doctor frowned. "Must be more powerful than I thought." He was about to continue when the Daleks saw fit to interrupt.

"Social interaction will cease!" Dalek Jast screeched.

"How did you survive the Time War?" Sec demanded.

The Doctor turned to them, his expression darkening slightly. "By fighting. On the front line."

Jack stared. The Doctor hated violence, and now he was admitting to fighting in a war? What else had changed?

"I was there at the fall of Arcadia. Someday I might even come to terms with that." the Doctor's tone lightened slightly. "But you lot – ran away!"

"We had to survive," Sec stated proudly.

The Doctor looked at them curiously. "The last four Daleks in existence. So what's so special about  _you_?"

"They've got names," Rose started in a low voice, "I mean, Daleks don't have names, do they? One of them said they – "

She was interrupted by the Daleks introducing themselves.

"I am Dalek Thay."

"Dalek Sek."

"Dalek Jast."

"Dalek Caan."

"The only four Daleks with names? Couldn't you have come up with something a little better?" Jack asked. Mickey rolled his eyes. The Doctor, however, ignored him, looking quite delighted.

"So THAT'S it! At last... the Cult of Skaro. I thought you were just a legend."

"Who are they?" Rose asked curiously.

"A secret order. Above and beyond the Emperor himself. Their job was to imagine. Think as the enemy thinks. Even dared to have names," he paused, scowling slightly. "All to find new ways of killing."

"Sounds a bit like the Time Agency," Jack muttered. Rose and the Doctor looked round at him curiously. Jack had never revealed much about his past at the Time Agency. Was that why?

"But that thing, they said it was yours. I mean... Time Lords - they built it. What does it do?" Mickey asked, oblivious to the others' silence, gesturing towards the Ark in the centre of the room.

The Doctor glanced at it casually. "I dunno. Never seen it before."

"But it's... Time Lord," Rose repeated, confused.

"Both sides had secrets," he replied, his eyes darkening slightly as he turned to the Daleks. "What is it? What have you done?"

"Time Lord science will restore Dalek supremacy," one replied.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Why do the bad guys always talk in riddles?  _And_  expect you to know what they mean?"

"Probably watch too much James Bond," Mickey murmured. Jack snorted and the Doctor frowned at them both before returning his attention to the Daleks.

"What does that mean? What sort of Time Lord science? What do you mean?"

The Daleks seemed disinclined to answer.

Rose added in a bit of information, hoping it would help the Doctor work out what the Ark was. "They said one touch from a time traveller will wake it up."

The Doctor grinned darkly. "Technology using the one thing a Dalek can't do. Touch." He stared down the eyestalk of one of the Daleks, trying to antagonise it. "Sealed inside your casing. Not feeling anything... ever... from birth to death, locked inside a cold metal cage. Completely alone. And that explains your voice. No wonder you scream."

"The Doctor will open the Ark!" Sec barked at him, almost in an annoyed way. If Daleks could be annoyed.

The Doctor laughed contemptuously. "The Doctor will not!"

"You have no way of resisting!" the Dalek retorted.

"Well... you got me there. Although... there is always this." the Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, twirling it around between the ends of his fingers.

"A sonic probe?" The Dalek seemed unimpressed.

"That's  _screwdriver._ "

"It is harmless!" Sec retorted scornfully.

"Oh yes. Harmless is just the word. That's why I like it. Doesn't kill, doesn't wound, doesn't maim." He glanced over at Jack. "Very good at putting up shelves. But I'll tell you what it can also do - it is VERY good at opening doors."

He pressed a button, activating the screwdriver.

All hell broke loose.

All the doors in the room exploded inwards, allowing quite a large number of Cybermen, as well as Pete, Jake, and their team into the room.

"Get down!" Jack yelled as the Daleks and Cybermen began shooting at each other. The humans all dropped to the floor. Jack crawled across the room to grab his handgun, which he stuffed into it's holster before he crawled back over towards the Doctor and Rose.

"Rose, get out!" the Doctor yelled as Jack joined them. Rose started crawling towards the door, stumbling slightly as she got to her feet. The Doctor and Jack watched as Pete helped her to her feet and shepherded her out of the door. Jack heard the Doctor sigh in relief. They made their way over to the door, reaching it a few seconds later. The Doctor turned to yell at Mickey, who had grabbed a gun from somewhere and was firing at anything and anything that wasn't human. "Mickey, come on!"

The Daleks screeched as the Cybermen's lasers stalled and disabled them momentarily, causing them to glow red as their armour attempted to deflect the lasers. The Cybermen almost seemed to be winning. But then suddenly the Daleks seemed to have managed to adapt their weaponry and armour, because the Cyber-weapons stopped affecting them abruptly, and they started shooting again, destroying the Cybermen easily.

The whole team watched at the door as the blast from the destruction of one of the Cybermen made Mickey stumble, and in an attempt to stabilise himself, touch the Genesis Ark, leaving a bright red handprint. The Daleks ceased firing, and Mickey rushed to the door, slipping through with the rest of Jake's men before the door closed.

"Jake, check the stairwell. The rest of you, come on!" the Doctor yelled, racing down the corridor at top speed.

Nobody spoke for a moment, charging along the corridor at top speed. They skidded around a corner, and then Mickey, who had been looking exceedingly guilty, burst into explanation.

"I just fell, I didn't mean it! It was just there, I didn't meant to touch it!"

"Mickey, without us, they'd have opened it by force. To do that, they'd have blown up the sun. You've done us a favour!"the Doctor reassured him. "Now run!"

Jack gave Mickey a friendly grin as the poor guy glanced his way. "We all make mistakes."

The Doctor, Rose, Jack, Mickey and Pete raced around another corner to see two Cybermen with their backs to them. Facing Jackie. As the group came to a halt, Pete raised the large gun he was wearing and shot the Cybermen, destroying them in a fog of smoke. The smoke gradually cleared, and they watched as Jackie stared wide-eyed at her saviour.

"Pete!"

"Hello Jacks."

"I said there were ghosts, but that's not fair. Why him?" Jackie asked plaintively, staring past Pete to where the rest of them were standing awkwardly.

"I'm not a ghost," Pete tried, but Jackie wasn't having any of it.

"But you're dead! You died twenty years ago Pete!"

The Doctor exchanged a glance with Rose, who was looking rather shocked at seeing her parents  _together_ , before stepping forward to explain.

"It's Pete from a different universe. There are parallel worlds, Jackie. Every single decision we make creates a parallel existence, a different dimension where – "

He'd started rambling, but Jackie easily interrupted him. "Oh, you can shut up."

The Doctor blinked, and did as he was told, stepping back to stand beside Rose.

"You look old," Jackie said quietly, staring at Pete.

"You don't," Pete replied. Jack grinned at that.

"How can you be standing there?" Jackie asked incredulously, still not quite believing her eyes.

"Just got lucky... lived my life. You were left on your own. You didn't marry again, or...?" Pete was rambling now.

"There was never anyone else." In the background, the Doctor and Mickey exchanged incredulous glances, but neither said anything. "Twenty years, though. Look at me – I never left that flat. Did nothing with myself," Jackie continued.

"Brought  _her_  up. Rose Tyler. That's not bad." The Doctor and Jack grinned at that.

"Yeah," Jackie whispered.

"In my world, it worked. All those daft little plans of mine," Pete explained, "they worked. Made me rich."

"I don't care about that," Jackie said quickly, before pausing. "How rich?"

"Very."

"I don't care about that." Another pause. "How very?"

Pete laughed and Rose rolled her eyes at her Mother's attitude.

"Thing is though, Jacks, you're... you're not my wife. I'm sorry, but you're not. I mean, we both..." Pete was fighting it, for some reason, trying to convince himself. Jack could tell. Why, he had no idea.

"You know, it's just sort of..." Pete continued, before he gave in, running towards her. "Oh, come here!"

They met each other halfway with a giant hug.

Jack smiled. "Feels like I'm watching some Sci-Fi Romance film now," he muttered to Mickey, who nodded.

There was a pause as the spectators glanced around awkwardly, before the Doctor, feeling restless, leapt into action. "Come on you lot! The Daleks and Cybermen won't defeat themselves – at least, not totally."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

They raced along the corridor, back towards the storage floor, the Doctor leading. They reached a set of wooden double doors, which the Doctor threw open. He, Jack and Rose peered inside. There were Daleks, Cybermen and humans inside, shooting, battling, dying. Well, the humans and Cybermen were dying.

"What are you looking for?" Jack whispered.

"Those," the Doctor muttered back, pointing at a wooden crate abandoned on a table. The Doctor was about to dive into the room when Jack grabbed his jacket.

"Let me. It'll be safer." The Doctor blinked and nodded, stepping back to allow Jack into the room.

Rose glanced up at him. "What does he mean, it'll be safer?"

"He can't die. If he gets hit, it won't be the end of the world," the Doctor replied calmly.

"What d'ya mean, he can't die!"

"Not now!" the Doctor whispered, watching as Jack grabbed a couple of magna-clamps from the wooden crate and started making his way back to them.

Rose and the Doctor both tensed as Jack tripped over a Cyberman, but the Captain managed to regain his footing and stagger over to the doors. They opened them wide again, and Jack collapsed through them. Rose made to close the doors, but the Doctor stopped her, glancing back through them with his 3-D glasses on.

They watched as the Daleks started ignoring the fighting, and opened the roof before they and the Genesis Ark, which they had brought with them, rose slowly off the ground and into the sky.

"What're they doing? Why'd they need to get outside?" Rose asked, baffled.

"Maybe they're nipping out for a quick cigarette," Jack joked.

"Time Lord science... what Time Lord science?" the Doctor wondered aloud, just as confused as everyone else. "What is it?" He whipped the 3-D glasses off frustratedly before backing out of the doors and shutting them firmly.

"We've gotta see what it's doing, we've gotta go back up! Come on! All of you! Top floor!" He started running down the corridor, the others following.

"That's forty-five floors up!" Jackie protested. "Believe me, I've done 'em all."

"Well, that's one way to lose weight," Jack mused as he jogged behind them.

"We could always take the lift?" Jake said, popping his head out of it as they ran past.

Somehow, the Doctor, Rose, Jack, Mickey, Jackie, Pete, Jake and two magna-clamps squeezed into the lift. There was an awkward silence as the lift started it's ascent.

"Well, at least we aren't in America. We'd be standing here listening to some dodgy elevator music." Jack said brightly. "Which can really spoil the mood..." Most of the people in the lift rolled their eyes.

A couple of minutes later, the group was rushing out of the lift on the top floor and over to the window.

They crowded round, watching, as the Genesis Ark, now high in the sky, started spinning swiftly, shooting Daleks out.

"Time Lord science... it's bigger on the inside," the Doctor murmured, horrified. They all watched in silence as hundreds of Daleks shot out of the ship, flying over the skies of London.

"Did Time Lords put those Daleks in there? What for?" Mickey questioned.

"It's a prison ship," the Doctor replied quietly.

"How many Daleks?" Rose asked. A feeling of doom crept over them as they watched more and more Daleks flying away.

The Doctor stared out at the scene in front of him, looking on as his oldest enemies became powerful once more. "Millions."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks to Eilonwyn at FF.net, who is the most awesome Beta in the world.

Jack gazed at the scene before him, horrified. Daleks were soaring through the sky, eliminating any possible enemies and shooting down innocent people. The Cybermen fought back from the ground, slowing the Daleks down slightly, but not enough. London was a mess. There were flames all over the city, people screaming and running for their lives.

Jack hoped to God that whatever the Doctor was planning worked, otherwise the whole of the Earth would be destroyed.

Pete came to life first, tearing his eyes away from the scenes of destruction down below. "I'm sorry, but you've had it. This world's gonna crash and burn. There's nothing we can do. We're going home. Jacks, take this." He pulled a yellow Dimension Jump out of his pocket and passed it to her.

"But they're destroying the city!"

Pete smiled affectionately. "I'd forgotten you could argue." He took the button out of her hands and looped it around her neck. "It's not just London, it's the whole world. But there's another world, just waiting for you, Jacks. And it's safe. As long as the Doctor closes the breach. Doctor?" The man turned to the Timelord, who was still facing the window.

The Doctor turned, his 3-D glasses on, and grinned widely. "Oh, I'm ready. I've got the equipment right here. Thank you, Torchwood!" he yelled gleefully.

Jack grinned. "No problem, Doc," he replied cheekily.

The Timelord mock glared at him for a second, and rushed over to a computer.

"Slam it down and close off both universes," the Doctor finished, as he quickly typed something in.

"Reboot systems," the computer's automatic voice mono-toned. Jack frowned. What could the Doctor want to do to the breach?

"But we can't just leave!" Rose protested. "What about the Daleks? And the Cybermen?"

The Doctor stood up again, a broad smile on his face. "They're part of the problem. And THAT makes them part of the solution. Oh yes!" The Doctor was in his element now, solving the problems with a flair. Jack sighed contentedly. It was nice not to have to solve everything himself, for a change.

"Well? Isn't anyone gonna ask? What is it with the glasses?" the Doctor asked, addressing the whole room, although his eyes were fixed on Rose.  _No change there_ , Jack thought to himself.

"What is it with the glasses?" Rose asked, smiling.

"I can SEE! That's what! 'Cos we've got two separate worlds, but in-between the two separate worlds, we've got the Void. That's where the Daleks were hiding. And the Cybermen travelled through the Void to get here! And you lot – one world to another, via the Void! Oh, I like that. Via the Void! Look!" The Doctor pressed the glasses onto Rose's face. "I've been through it. D'ya see?" He dodged about a bit, and Jack grinned. Maybe with the glasses on, and able to see the void stuff, there was a point to that, but without them, he just looked stupid.

Rose reached out her hand as though trying to touch something that wasn't there.

"Reboot in three minutes," the computer reminded them.

"Void Stuff," the Doctor said, still talking to Rose.

"Like um... background radiation!" Rose laughed.

"That's it! Look at the others." he told her, spinning her round to face the rest of them.

"The only one who hasn't been through the Void – your mother. First time she's looked normal in her life." The Doctor pointed at Jackie.

"Oi!" Jackie protested, glaring at the Doctor, who just grinned back.

However, Rose frowned. "But, Doctor, Jack doesn't..."

But the Doctor wasn't listening, having turned and raced towards the white wall where the breach appeared, still talking. "The Daleks lived inside the Void. They're bristling with it. Cybermen – all of them. I just open the Void – and reverse. The Void stuff gets sucked back inside."

Jack nodded to himself as the plan started to make sense. The magna-clamps would be to stop them getting pulled into the Void too... but then why had the Doctor only told him to get two...?

"PULLING them all in!" Rose yelled excitedly, in response to the Doctor's speech.

"Pulling them all in!" the Doctor repeated, just as enthusiastically.

"Sorry... what's – what's the Void?" Mickey asked from behind them.

"Hell," Jack replied shortly, smirking at Mickey, who merely blinked at him.

"So, you're sending the Daleks and the Cybermen to Hell?" he asked rhetorically. "Man," He turned to Jake, who was grinning like a little kid in a toy shop, "I told you he was good."

"But it's... like you said, we've ALL got Void stuff. Me too, 'cos we went to that parallel world," Rose interrupted, confused. "We're all contaminated. We'll get pulled in."

There was a pause. The cheerful atmosphere in the room changed. The Doctor stared at Rose, his good mood disappearing instantly. He swallowed uneasily.

"That's why you've gotta go."

Rose stared uncomprehendingly at him, and Jack stared at him too, bemused and slightly angry. It was clear to him now that the two hadn't admitted their feelings for each other yet. But why the Doctor was putting them through this, Jack couldn't figure out. Surely he knew Rose wouldn't accept this. The Time Lord's brain worked in weird ways.

"Back to Pete's world," the Doctor clarified. His mood lightened for a second as he grinned at Pete. "Hey, we should call it that - 'Pete's World'." Jack snorted and the Doctor glanced sideways at him for a second before turning back to Rose. "I'm opening the Void, but only on this side. You'll be safe on that side."

Rose still didn't answer.

"And then you close it. For good?" Pete asked.

"The breach itself is soaked in Void Stuff, in the end it'll close itself. And that's it. Kaput," the Doctor explained.

Jack watched Rose's expression change as she suddenly understood what was going on. Her eyes widened dramatically and she frowned slightly as she stared at the Doctor. "But you stay on  _this_  side...?"

"But you'll get pulled in," Mickey interrupted.

The Doctor's gaze moved from Rose to Mickey. He pointed at the magna-clamps behind Jack. "That's why... we've got them," he replied, indicating Jack and himself. "I'll just have to hold on tight – I've been doing it all my life."

"I'm supposed to go," Rose stated flatly, looking over at them.

The Doctor didn't quite meet her eyes. "Yeah."

"To another world, and then it gets sealed off," Rose continued.

"Yeah." The Doctor didn't look at her, instead stepping over to another computer to type something in.

"Forever." Rose laughed hollowly. "That's not gonna happen."

Jack could hear the emotion in her voice, and that just made him more angry. He wanted to yell at the Doctor, to knock some sense into him – but he didn't dare. It wasn't his place. And it would be a bit hypocritical for him to lecture someone else about love, after all these years...

Pete interrupted the tense silence in the room as the crashes outside got louder. "We haven't got time to argue, the plans works, we're going. You too. ALL of us."

"No, I'm not leaving him!" Rose retorted angrily, staring down her would-be Father.

"I'm not going without her." Jackie told Pete.

He sighed frustratedly. "Oh, my God. We're GOING!"

Jackie glared at him. "I've had twenty years without you, so button it. I'm not leaving her."

Rose stepped over to her Mother, turning her around to face her gently. "You've got to," she said softly.

"Well that's tough!" Jackie retorted.

Jack could see Rose's eyes were filled with tears as she stared her Mother down, but the brave girl was blinking them back resolutely. "Mum..."

"Computer reboot, one minute."

"I've had a life with you for nineteen years. But then I met the Doctor and... all the things I've seen him do for me. For you. For all of us. For the whole... stupid planet and every planet out there. He does it alone, mum." Rose's voice was trembling with suppressed tears, and she swallowed hard before continuing. "But not any more." She glanced at Jack and an understanding seemed to flow between the two of them. Rose knew Jack not only understood her decision, but was full-heartedly agreeing with her. But Jack knew Rose didn't want him to do anything – because if there was the slightest chance that Rose did lose this argument – the Doctor needed  _someone._  And if Jack were to go against the Doctor now, he wouldn't necessarily be much use as that someone.

Rose backed away from her Mother, who was looking hurt and bewildered, and finished her speech. "Cos he's got me." She was backing towards the Doctor, still staring at Jackie.

Jack saw the Doctor first. The Time Lord reaching out and placing a Dimension Jump around Rose's neck with a heartbroken expression and pained, old eyes.

Jack would have warned Rose but he didn't have time. As soon as the Doctor had let go of the Dimension Jump, Pete had pressed the button on his own. Rose barely had time to notice what was going on before the Tylers, Jake and Mickey disappeared, leaving the Doctor and Jack alone.

Jack stared at the Doctor, angry. Not just because he hadn't let Rose have the freedom to choose her own life – but because of what the Time Lord was doing to himself.

"Don't look at me like that." The Doctor's broken tone only fuelled Jack's anger.

"You are an idiot, Doctor," Jack replied, stepping closer to the slighter man. "Why do you do this to yourself? Why do you think that you don't deserve to be happy!"

The Doctor blinked at him, and in that second Jack saw his emotions shift. The Time Lord, who had been staring, lost, at the space where Rose had disappeared, whirled around to face him, his eyes stormy.

"Look around you, Jack!" he growled, "This is what happens when I'm around! Death, destruction! It happened to Gallifrey, it can happen to Earth! Everyone dies when I'm around, Jack!" The Doctor was glaring so darkly that Jack almost shivered. But his rage wasn't gone yet.

"Maybe they do! But have you ever thought about the hundreds, millions of people that would be dead, could die, if you didn't turn up? Everybody might not live all the time – but I would bet that the majority live because of you! Why can't you accept that?"

"There's a reason they call me the Oncoming Storm, Jack. Everyone I get close to dies, or gets hurt. It's always my fault."

"Basically, you think you don't deserve to be happy. Maybe I can't stop you thinking that. Maybe it's even true! But what gives you the right to make Rose's choices for her! What gives you the right to deny  _her_  happiness?"

"I..."

The Doctor's harsh reply was cut short when Rose's voice once more echoed through the room.

"I think this is the 'on' switch..."

Both men turned, startled, to see Rose with her hands pressed to the yellow button on her chest, glancing around the room nonchalantly. She frowned slightly as she noticed the angry expressions on both men's faces. "What's goin' on here?"

Neither man answered. Jack glanced at the Doctor, but the Time Lord was striding forwards to where Rose was standing, and was grabbing her by the shoulders.

"Once the breach collapses, that's IT _._ You will never be able to see her again. Your own mother!" He was half-yelling at her, as though trying to drum sense into her. Jack shook his head. Damn stubborn Time Lords. Did they never listen?

"I made my choice a long time ago, and I'm never gonna leave you." Rose told the Doctor calmly, meeting the dark gaze of the alien evenly.

Jack thought the Doctor was going to yell at her, but, somehow, Rose won. The Doctor let go of her, arms dropping limply to his sides, the darkness in his eyes gone, replaced by an utterly stunned expression.

"So what can I do to help?" Rose asked.

The Doctor didn't answer, merely staring at her in disbelief. And that's when Jack realised... It wasn't that the Doctor didn't want Rose, it was that he couldn't believe, even now, that Rose really wanted him. Couldn't believe that Rose loved him enough to forfeit her family for him. The Time Lord had insecurities about love that Jack hadn't even realised were there.

"Systems rebooted. Open access." The computer startled them all, breaking the tense silence.

"Those co-ordinates over there, set them all at six," the Doctor told Rose, pointing at a computer in the corner. He glanced up at Jack. "Jack, keep an eye on the Cybermen."

Jack nodded silently, not quite sure if all was forgiven between them yet. After all, he  _had_ been quite harsh. He stepped over to a computer behind the one the Doctor was working on, checking the screen before swearing softly.

"We've got Cybermen on the way up, one floor down."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The Doctor took a deep breath and sprang into action. His fingers blurred as he typed in a command at breakneck speed. His mind, however, kept going off on tangents. It'd been doing that a lot recently, now that he considered it. Mainly concerning Rose...

But right now, he was more worried about what Jack had yelled at him a few minutes ago. Was he really being too hard on himself? Was he really hurting Rose? He only wanted her to be safe, but...

"Levers operational." ...The computer broke into his train of thought. Catching himself, he focused on the current problem.

"Right then! We'd better hurry up!" He leapt past where Rose and Jack were standing, grabbing one of the magna-clamps and tossing it to Jack. "You two take this one, and that lever," he told them, pointing at the lever on the right.

"Hang on, why are we sharing a clamp?" Rose asked.

"Because between the two of you, the pull of the void will still be less than it is for me." the Doctor explained quickly, "Jack's only been through and back once, you've only been through and back twice. I've been back and forth through the Void a reasonable number of times... not intentionally of course."

He grinned at them, and the tension that had been present in the room evaporated.

"That's more like it!" Rose said, smiling, "bit of a smile! The old team... back together!" She grinned at Jack.

"As we should be," Jack replied with a small smile. As they would have been, had Jack not been left on the Gamestation, alone. He still felt kind of bitter about that, but the relief, satisfaction and warmth he felt inside at being reunited far outweighed that. At least for now.

Rose turned back to the Doctor, continuing to talk, "But anyway Doctor, that wasn't what I meant. 'Cos why does Jack need a magna-clamp in the first place?"

Jack stared at her. Hadn't she been listening? he'd been through the Void too...

"Huh?" was the Doctor's coherent reply.

"I mean, when I looked at him, the particles... the Void Stuff, it wasn't on him. Like he was repelling it... how come?"

"Repelling it?" both men repeated, dumbstruck. Jack frowned. The Doctor dropped the clamp he was holding and tugged the 3-D glasses out from his pocket.

"Blimey," he murmured as he stared through them. "Rose is right, no Void Stuff whatsoever..." The Doctor put out a hand in front of him, moving as though to touch Jack, and his eyes widened. "Yep, and repelling them. None will go anywhere near you. Almost like, magnetism, and you've got the wrong charge."

"But what's so different about me?" Jack asked finally, as the Doctor continued to stare at him.

"No idea. There's no way to stop it... not even the Time Lords knew how to prevent someone from gaining Void Stuff. There must be another answer..."

Jack was about to reply when Rose, who had stopped listening when the Doctor had started rambling, cried out. "The Cybermen!" Both men turned to face Rose, who was staring at a computer screen in horror. "They're gonna be here any minute!"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, fear and adrenaline running through all of them.

Then they leapt into action.

Jack raced over to the lever on the right, and attached the magna-clamp he was still holding to the wall. Rose followed him. The Doctor picked the second magna-clamp up off the floor and attached it to the opposite wall.

"Ready?" he asked, as he prepared to force the lever into position. Jack nodded, his hands already on his lever.

Rose, already clinging on to their magna-clamp, was staring out of the window fearfully. "Daleks!"

Four Daleks had appeared at the window, weapons at the ready. The Doctor and Jack exchanged a final glance.

"Let's do it!" the Time Lord yelled, grabbing the lever. Both men struggled with the levers for a second, Rose still staring at the Daleks, who seemed about to smash the window.

"Online." The levers clicked into place, and Jack and the Doctor lunged for the magna-clamps. Bright white light filled the room, and there was a sound of a howling wind. An invisible force started pulling. Daleks smashed through the windows as they hurtled past them towards the breach. Cybermen, lifted off their feet, came crashing through the doorway. Rose and the Doctor held on for their lives as they felt the incredible strength of the pulling Void.

But Jack wasn't affected.

He could hear the howling of the Void, and watched as Daleks and Cybermen were sucked into the breach, their shrieks dispersed by the winds.

But he could stand tall, he felt no pull. It was almost surreal, to watch the force in action, and be unable to feel it. He cautiously let go of the magna-clamp, as though scared the force would suddenly start affecting him. But as it didn't he grinned widely, and took a tentative step over to the Doctor. The Time Lord was staring at him, a calculating look in his eye, but still amazed.

Rose turned her head as she noticed Jack leave her side, and she too stared as he walked with ease across the room.

And all three of them forgot that there was a stream of Daleks and Cybermen flying through the centre of the room.

Jack took one step into the flow, and dropped instantly as something metal collided with him at immense speed.

The Doctor and Rose exchanged aghast looks, Rose turning pale as she noticed blood seeping out of a wound on Jack's head. The Doctor looked perfectly calm, he knew Jack would be fine, eventually, but he didn't take his eyes off the man.

At least, not until the computer's emotionless voice echoed through the room.

"Offline."

Rose's lever shuddered and started slowly lowering itself to the ground.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Eilonwyn at FF.net, who is an awesome beta.

"Hold on!"

A frantic cry from somewhere to his left reached Jack just as he returned to consciousness. His head pounding, he blinked groggily at the shapes flying through the air above him. His memory of what had just happened slowly returned as he recognised the shapes as Daleks and Cybermen, and he cursed himself for his stupidity. Not only had he hit his head quite hard, probably giving himself a concussion and a nasty head wound, his shoulder was hurting enough that he figured he must have dislocated it...

Another muffled cry woke him from his thoughts. He rolled out from under the flow of Daleks and Cybermen, noticing as he did so that said flow seemed slower than it had been before...

And that was when he sat up and looked around properly, to see the Doctor's desperate, terrified expression. Jack turned in time to see Rose let go of the magna-clamp attached to the wall by her head in favour of grabbing the lever that seemed to have malfunctioned – it was slowly lowering itself to the ground.

For a split-second Jack sat frozen, unable to force his muscles to move to grab Rose and right the lever. Then the enormity of what was happening struck him, and he leapt into action.

Metaphorically, at least – seeing as his leap was more of a stagger as he pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the sharp pain in his shoulder and the dizziness that washed over him as he stood up.

He took a step towards Rose, realising that in the time he'd taken to stand up, she'd managed to fix the lever back in position. The steady stream of Daleks and Cybermen had increased in speed again. He would have sighed in relief, if he hadn't been able to see Rose's grip on the lever begin to slide.

In the second it took for Jack to stumble closer to her, she was clinging on with one hand.

Another step, and it became three fingers.

A final step, and just as Jack reached out her fingers slipped off the lever.

Rose was screaming in front of him, the Doctor yelling behind him. And as Jack stared, Rose flew further and further away from him.

Jack made a split-second decision. With all the strength he could muster, he leapt towards Rose.

For a second, he thought he was going to miss her, that he hadn't jumped far enough, that she was moving too fast. But then he collided with her, his arms wrapping around her as his weight pushed them to the floor. They rolled over and over. Jack almost thought that they were going to roll into the Void, but fortunately they came to rest a good metre away.

Jack looked up at the glowing white mass in front of them in time to see it crumple like a sheet of paper and disappear, leaving a solid white wall.

The Doctor stumbled over to them as they untangled themselves from each other.

The three caught each others' eyes and burst out laughing.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Eventually their laughter died and they sat up properly, Jack groaning as the pain in his shoulder magnified.

The Doctor glanced at him, concerned. "Jack?"

"I think I dislocated my shoulder when I fell," he muttered, rubbing his hand over the area gingerly, before glancing at the Doctor. "D'ya think you could..?"

"Of course." The Doctor moved over to Jack's side, placing two hands on his shoulder, on either side of the dislocation. "Brace yourself," he murmured, and pushed hard with one hand. Rose quickly looked away. Jack let out a yell of pain as he felt the bone pop back into place. Exhaling slowly, he sat back, wincing.

The Doctor grinned at him. "I have to say Jack, you walking into those Daleks and Cybermen was probably one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. And that is saying something."

Jack grinned sheepishly, and Rose laughed. It was good to be back together again.

Jack was about to retaliate when a thought struck him. He paused for a second, before deciding to voice it.

"Hey, Doc, would getting trapped in the Void be lethal?"

The Doctor blinked at the abrupt change of subject, frowning slightly at his question.

"It should do. There is literally nothing in the Void except for Void stuff and solid masses that get trapped there. No air, certainly no water or food. You couldn't sustain life that depended on anything – that's the only reason the Daleks could survive in there; they don't need anything."

"You mean they're still alive in there?" asked Rose, shocked. The Doctor nodded gravely.

"So maybe that's why the Void Stuff didn't... doesn't affect me," Jack mused. The other two stared at him questioningly. Jack glanced up at them. "If I can't be killed, and being in the Void would kill me, then maybe whatever force is making me immortal is preventing that by making me immune to the Void Stuff."

"Maybe..." the Doctor considered. "But then again, it is possible, although extremely difficult, to escape the Void. There are creatures that live there, that are forever trying to break through into a universe. And, seeing as you could survive without air, water or food in normal circumstances..."

"I wouldn't really call it surviving in those examples. Death from asphyxiation basically means I keep dying until there is air when I wake up. Believe me, it's not at all comfortable."

"How many times have you died?" Rose asked incredulously.

Jack grinned morbidly. "More times than I can count. And in far too many different ways..." his tone became more conversational as he continued, "All the usual, like being shot, drowned, stabbed, poisoned, starved... then trampled, crushed, dropped off a cliff, strangled, decapitated, drained of blood, killed by smallpox, and a number of alien weapons... and then there was that stray javelin..."

The Doctor and Rose both winced, but managed to look gobsmacked at the same time.

"How many people did you piss off?" Rose asked finally, a cheeky glint in her eye.

"You automatically assume it's because of something I did?" Jack complained in a wounded tone.

Rose and the Doctor exchanged glances and then nodded simultaneously.

"Yeah." "Yup." They grinned as Jack scowled at them.

"Some friends you two are. And to think I've been searching for you for years..." The atmosphere immediately became more sombre.

"Why did you join Torchwood in the first place? Doesn't seem like you really liked what was going on here..." the Doctor trailed off, studying Jack's expression. Jack suddenly looked a lot older than appearances showed, and as brown eyes met blue, for the first time he could see lifetimes' worth of pain in those eyes – an old man's eyes.

"I never really had a choice," Jack answered finally. He shifted positions, making himself more comfortable. "I'll start at the beginning, I suppose." He looked to see that he had the other two's full attention before beginning.

"I waited two days on the Gamestation. Then the space shuttles arrived, and I decided that it would look pretty bad if I was the only survivor. I used my Vortex Manipulator to get me out of there before they found me. I aimed for Earth, figured that that was the one place you'd always come back to. I was trying for the Twenty-first century, but I was in a rush, got it a little wrong. I ended up in 1869. This thing burnt out," He indicated the Vortex Manipulator on his wrist, "And I was stuck. Eventually I made my way to Cardiff – I knew you'd come back to refuel sooner or later."

"That doesn't explain why you ended up working for Torchwood..."

Jack mock-glared at the Time Lord for interrupting, and continued. "It was in 1899 that I ran into trouble. A couple of women by the names of Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd. They were Torchwood Cardiff." he paused. "Torchwood was set up by Queen Victoria, and they knew about you, and saw you as a threat. Those two heard me mentioning you at some point, and decided to come and find me. They found out I was immortal, and blackmailed me into becoming a field operative, freelance agent. I didn't work for Torchwood very often, and I was only properly recruited in the 50's. I dropped out again in the seventies, and rejoined in the 80's. Then in 1996, Yvonne became Director of Torchwood London. She decided to check up on Cardiff, and she found out about me, and found out that I'd originally joined in 1899. I told her I was a time traveller to avoid the immortality issue – if she'd known she'd probably have locked me up and experimented on me... but she took a liking to me. Transferred me to London to be her second-in-command. I've been here ever since."

"And you put up with this regime for that long?" the Doctor asked, frowning.

"Torchwood Cardiff got better, by the eighties it was almost humane, friendly. Probably would have gone rogue by now if it still existed."

"What happened to it? And why Cardiff?" Rose questioned.

"Because of the rift. That's why Torchwood Three was built. I stayed at Cardiff because I was hoping you'd use the rift to refuel." Jack hesitated before continuing. "It doesn't exist any more because in December 1999, the leader, Alex Hopkins, discovered a pendant that showed the bleakest possible future for humanity. He knew Torchwood wasn't ready for that; he killed the whole team and then himself. Yvonne never bothered to re-establish Torchwood there." Jack sighed. After the loss of communication from Torchwood Three, he'd been the one sent to find out what was going on. He'd been the one to find the cold, dead bodies of his old team mates.

Sensing Jack's mood, the Doctor quickly changed the subject.

"Probably a good thing you didn't stay in Cardiff. If you'd reached 2005, you'd have crossed your timeline."

Jack smiled faintly, remembering the Slitheen incident. "It took a lot of persuasion to stop Yvonne from investigating either of those Slitheen problems."

There was a pause... then Rose shook her head. "Wait a minute. Back up. How come Jack's immortal?"

Jack shrugged. "No idea. I know I died once, on the Gamestation, but then I woke up. Ever since then, when I die, I wake up." Rose frowned, and both looked to the Doctor, who was looking at them guiltily.

They stared at him. "Doctor?" Rose asked cautiously.

"Doc? You didn't have anything to do with it... did you?" Jack asked, eyes wide.

"I didn't make you immortal, if that's what you mean." The Doctor glanced away before looking back at Jack.

Jack picked up on the slight hidden meaning. "Somebody made me immortal? Who?"

The Doctor hesitated, not meeting either of their gazes. But at their unrelenting stares he answered – if in a slightly roundabout way.

"Rose, how much do you remember about what happened on the Gamestation after you came back?"

Rose frowned again, and Jack looked like he was about to say something, but the Doctor silenced him with a glance.

"Not much," Rose answered slowly. "I looked into the heart of the TARDIS and came back, and after that it's a bit blurry until I woke up in the TARDIS later."

Jack's jaw dropped open. "You looked into the heart of the TARDIS?"

"I had to come back!" Rose explained defensively.

"So...?" Jack looked at the Doctor to continue.

The Doctor sighed before complying. "Rose had the power of time running through her. She destroyed the Daleks... Turned them into dust. Then she said 'I bring life'." He looked up at them resignedly. "I thought then she was only saying that she brought life as a result of having destroyed the Daleks. But, in actual fact, she had brought you back to life. I suppose she used too much power, she brought you back forever."

"You mean I made Jack immortal?" Rose asked, horrified. Jack blinked. Ever since he'd come to hate his immortality, he had assumed it had come from some trick of fate. He knew he hadn't been born with it – the immortality also seemed to come with accelerated healing, and he knew he hadn't had that before the Gamestation fiasco. But to find out it was Rose who had turned him immortal... that changed everything. Because she hadn't done so to make his life more difficult, she'd done so because, Jack hoped, she wanted Jack to be alive so that the three of them could be happy and together again.

Rose was staring at Jack now, and the Doctor was watching the floor guiltily.

"It's okay," Jack whispered finally. "You couldn't control it. It wasn't your fault." He shuffled himself closer to Rose and wrapped his arms around her in a strong hug. "You couldn't know."

After a second, Jack looked over to the Doctor. "So you really thought I was dead?"

"Yeah." The Doctor held Jack's gaze firmly. "I promise you Jack, it was never my intention to leave you behind. Never."

Jack smiled, feeling like a huge weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. At first, he'd assumed that they'd left for a reason, and would be back to get him sometime soon. After the first few years, he'd realised that they weren't coming back, but he'd still lived in hope that he would find them eventually. It was only after several decades had passed that his thoughts became more morbid – parts of him whispering that they'd left him, that they'd become bored with him. But if the only reason they hadn't come back was because they thought he was dead...and technically, he had been dead... then he couldn't blame them for that. And they were together again now. That was what mattered.

One of the computers at the back of the room bleeped, startling them all. With a resigned sigh, Jack got up to see what was wrong with it now. He tapped a few buttons on the keyboard, and the computer flashed a warning, alongside CCTV views of the exterior of Torchwood Tower.

"Great," Jack murmured sarcastically, "we're surrounded by UNIT forces."

The Doctor and Rose got to their feet, the Doctor hurrying over to join him by the computer.

"I suppose the Brigadier's retired by now?" he mused, glancing sideways at Jack.

Jack raised his eyebrows. "Which Brigadier?"

"Lethbridge-Stewart."

"Oh, you mean  _Sir Alastair,_ " Jack smirked at the Doctor's expression. "Yeah. Why?"

"Old friend of mine. Used to work for them, back in the... err... seventies."

"You used to work for UNIT?"

"Yeah. But they were slightly less... militant back then," the Doctor replied defensively.

"I don't suppose you hold any power over them now?"

"Never really held much power over them in the first place. I just got away with a lot." The Doctor grinned. Rose rolled her eyes.

Jack shook his head in frustration. "Then we'd better get out of here. I don't particularly want to be taken into custody – and seeing as I am second-in-command here, and Yvonne is dead..."

"Right. Good idea. Where did they put the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked Rose.

"In the big storage room next to the one where I saw you," Rose replied immediately.

"Right." The Doctor turned to Jack. "Lead the way, Captain."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the most awesome beta in the world – Eilonwyn at FF.net.

The trio hurried along the silent, empty corridors. It was eerie to Jack; he was far too used to walking along these corridors amongst the general hustle and bustle of Torchwood life. The silence unnerved him: it left him wondering if they were the only survivors.

And then, as they rushed through a set of double doors, the silence was broken. For a moment Jack froze his first thought that there were more Daleks or Cybermen. But there were no 'Exterminate's or 'Delete's. Instead shrieks of pain and yells for help could be heard, sounding like they were coming from the floor below them.

Quickly exchanging glances, the trio broke into a run, Jack slightly ahead as he knew where he was going: down N2 staircase, along the corridor, turn the corner, past the plastic sheeting that indicated building work, through the set of double doors...

He stopped short at the sight before him, Rose and the Doctor just about managing not to knock into him.

"What is it, Jack?" the Doctor asked. "Jack?"

Jack stepped out of the doorway, and towards a young man who was kneeling on the floor, staring up at him through frightened eyes. But it wasn't the man that had shocked Jack; it was the fact that he had his arms around what looked like a partially converted Cyberman.

No,  _Cyberwoman_.

He heard the Doctor and Rose's exclamations behind him, but he ignored them and stepped closer to the young man.

"Who are you?" he asked calmly, managing to disguise the fear inside him. If there was one partially converted Cyberman, how many more could there be? How many people had been left on those conversion units when they'd opened the Void, left to die? How many had been almost converted?

"Jones. Ianto Jones." the man replied hoarsely. At the Captain's blank look he added; "Junior researcher."

Jack took another step forward and knelt on one knee to look at the woman in his arms.

"And who is she?" he asked, pointing at her.

"Lisa Hallett. She works in research too."

Rose and the Doctor had joined them by this point, both kneeling down beside the two men.

"She your girlfriend?" Rose asked gently. Ianto nodded silently, blinking tears out of his eyes.

"I hid down in the archives when they came. I was so scared... I heard the screaming and the noise... and then it stopped, it just stopped. I had to find Lisa... and..." He looked up at Jack desperately. "Please help her, sir. She's not a Cyberman, not yet. They hadn't finished the process."

As Rose gently wrapped an arm around Ianto, Jack diverted his attention to the woman lying half on the floor, half on Ianto's lap. He frowned slightly, glancing at the Doctor.

"I thought you said they converted us by taking out the brain and putting it in a metal suit," he whispered.

"They do, normally. They must have been desperate. I'd imagine it takes less time to do this then to remove the brain so that it's still stable and then transfer it."

"Any ideas then?"

"Not a clue. I've barely seen this type of Cyberman as it is, let alone this type of conversion."

Jack opened his mouth to speak, but he was forestalled by a sudden gasp. Looking down, he saw that Lisa had woken up. Her eyes were wide open, her breathing short and laboured.

"Ian...Ianto?" she murmured, her eyes darting around wildly.

Ianto shifted himself slightly, his hand coming to rest on Lisa's cheek. "I'm here."

"Who are these people...? They..." She paused as her eyes focused in on Jack, and her eyes widened.

"It's the Captain... does that means it's over, Yan? Did we win?"

Ianto gazed down at her, tears filling his eyes.

"Yeah. We won."

Lisa smiled slightly, but didn't manage to hold the expression for long as her expression became pained once more.

"It hurts, Yan." She swallowed painfully. "Am I dying?"

Ianto's eyes closed momentarily. "I don't know, Lisa. I..." He looked up frantically at the Captain, trying not to scare his girlfriend, but Lisa didn't miss the absolutely terrified and upset expression on Ianto's face.

"Ianto?" she asked again, her tone firmer.

A tear was trickling down Ianto's cheek. Jack glanced sideways at the Doctor and Rose, who were staring at each other as though having a silent conversation.

Finally, the Doctor spoke. "You won't die if we can help it. I promise you, Lisa, we will do our best. If there is a way to save you, then you will be saved."

Her eyes moved over to focus on him.

"Who...who are you?" she whispered, struggling to speak.

"I'm the Doctor," he replied, his eyes scanning her Cybernetic body. Her eyes widened in fear.

Jack knew what she was thinking: the Doctor was a known enemy of Torchwood. Everyone who worked here knew exactly who he was – at least, from Torchwood's point of view. The bad stuff. The Doctor depicted in the worst possible light. And to have that man leaning over you when you could be dying, when you had no means of escape, would be terrifying.

Jack hastened to reassure her, and Ianto, who was also staring at the Doctor tensely.

"It's okay. He's not the man Torchwood have painted him to be. I knew him before I joined Torchwood – heck, before Torchwood was even founded, in his timeline. He's a good man."

The Doctor smiled gratefully at Jack, and Rose just grinned before adding her bit.

"I was there when Queen Victoria met him. He saved her life...she was just too blinded by fear to realise that some aliens are good."

Ianto nodded slowly and Lisa relaxed – at least, as much as she could.

The Doctor, having examined Lisa as much as possible by just looking, pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and started buzzing it over her torso.

"The metal on your body hasn't been fully grafted..." the Doctor mused. "It would take a lot of surgery, but I know a few good planets I could take you to where they could perform the operations needed. You might still be scarred...but I'm guessing that's a price you'd be willing to pay." He grinned at her reassuringly as he moved up to scan her head. He blinked. And scanned again. He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again abruptly.

"Doctor, what is it?" Rose asked immediately.

"Doc?" Jack placed a hand on his shoulder, and the Time Lord looked up at him before looking over at Rose.

Ianto, who had been focused on Lisa, looked up at them in the sudden silence. He frowned at the expression on the Doctor's face.

"What is it? What's wrong with her?"

The Doctor looked up at Ianto slowly. "The technology's infected her brain," he said softly.

Lisa's eyes moved to focus on him again. "What's wrong with it?" she asked, wide-eyed.

"The Cybermen usually use an emotional inhibitor to allow them to programme the Cybermen, and to stop them going insane. The programming information is usually implanted separately – not in the brain." He paused, looking between Lisa and Ianto. "But yours is different. The programming and the emotional inhibitor are the same thing. A tiny chip, in your brain."

"But...I'm still me!" Lisa protested weakly. Ianto sat silently, cradling Lisa to him, his eyes fixed on the Doctor.

"The process hasn't been completed on you...but the chip isn't like human technology. It's slowly infecting your brain. The longer you're disconnected from one of the conversion units, the longer the chip has to wait for the process to complete, the more it will spread. And when it gets over fifty percent..."

"She'll become Cyber-kind," Jack finished. Rose looked horrified, and the tears in Ianto's eyes were falling freely.

Lisa's dark eyes closed momentarily. "You mean I'll start killing people.".

The Doctor nodded slowly, his dark brown eyes showing his true age for once. "The physical conversion has been completed enough for you to be able to... electrocute."

"But there's gotta be somethin' we can do!" Rose burst out. "Can't we get the chip removed, or something?"

This time it was Jack who replied. "If that kind of technology has infected her brain, then it will keep growing from the infected part – like a tumour. But as the brain would be perfectly healthy – it's inoperable. It would be too dangerous – if you missed even one cell..."

They were all silent, consequences filling their minds.

Finally Lisa swallowed resolutely. "Then you'll have to kill me."

"No! Lisa!" Ianto cried, horrified.

"I don't want to hurt anyone, Yan. And I don't want to have to live my life knowing that one day I'll turn into an emotionless killing machine."

"We'll find a way. There has to be a way!" Tears fell thick and fast down Ianto's face as he held on to her.

"It hurts so much, Yan. I couldn't live with pain like this."

Ianto only clung onto her tighter, and looked up at the other three, distraught.

The Doctor had his eyes closed with Rose's hand clasped tightly in his. But Jack had a practiced, emotionless look on his face.

Because he knew that if Lisa were to die today...then he would have to be the one to kill her.

It was possible that Lisa sensed this, because she focused in on him. "You'd do it, wouldn't you Captain? Because it would save lives." She paused, struggling for breath. "I heard some of the senior researchers talking about you. Everyone knew you weren't like Director Hartman; you tried to protect people. You didn't kill unless you had to...please. You have to."

Jack swallowed uneasily, feeling the Doctor's eyes on him.

"Lisa, don't give up. Please don't!" Ianto murmured, unable to believe that there was no way for Lisa to be saved.

The Doctor placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do."

Ianto stared at him numbly.

Rose crawled over to where Jack was crouching, still staring at Lisa. "Would you be able to, Jack? Could you really kill her?" she asked tearfully, not quite knowing what answer she wanted to hear.

Jack looked at her darkly. "I've got plenty of blood on my hands already. What's a little more, especially when it's... when it's her choice.

Rose looked slightly horrified, but there was an understanding in her that most people wouldn't have. She put her arms around him in a strong hug. Jack automatically hugged her back as his eyes caught the Doctor's.

And with a grim expression, the Doctor nodded at him.

Sighing heavily, Jack gently pushed Rose away, reached down to pull his gun out of its holster, and stood up. At the sudden movement, Ianto looked up at him.

"No. No," he cried, his arms tightening around Lisa.

With a great effort, Lisa moved her arm, clasping one of Ianto's hands in hers.

"Please, Yan, I don't want to hurt anyone... I love you. Please let me go." Her eyes were filling with tears again. The Doctor leant closer to Ianto.

"Be strong," he whispered, standing up, his hand not leaving Ianto's shoulder, even as Rose stepped over and wrapped her arms around the Time Lord.

Ianto took a deep, shaky breath. "I love you too, Lisa. I always will."

Lisa smiled softly. "Find someone, Yan," she whispered, letting go of his hand.

Ianto got to his feet numbly, desperately blinking tears back. He took one look at the gun clutched in Jack's hand, and walked over to the wall, closing his eyes as he leant back on it.

The Doctor and Rose took a step back.

Jack raised the gun, aiming it at Lisa's head.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, and pulled the trigger.

The shot echoed around the silent room.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

For a few moments nobody spoke; the only sound in the room was Ianto sobbing quietly. But eventually everyone shook themselves awake.

"We should get out of here. UNIT will be inside the building any minute," Jack said quietly, re-holstering his gun. He looked over to Ianto. "You'd probably better come with us. Unless you have a burning desire to be interrogated by UNIT...?"

Ianto shook his head silently, and Jack looked to the Doctor for confirmation that Ianto was allowed on board the TARDIS.

The Doctor gave a forced smile. "We'd best be off, then."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The journey down to the TARDIS took longer than expected, partly because Ianto was following them in a dazed state, and partly because Jack kept stopping to check his wrist-strap to see if UNIT had made it into the building yet. By the time they had reached the bay where the TARDIS was being kept, both Rose and the Doctor were on edge.

Eventually they rounded a corner and the TARDIS was in sight. That's when they heard the yells of approaching soldiers.

The Doctor grabbed Rose's hand and they raced ahead, Jack pausing to grab Ianto's arm before following. The Doctor pulled out his key as they reached the door and unlocked it, pushing Rose in and holding the door open for Jack and Ianto. The door swung shut just as the first UNIT soldiers came into sight.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Ianto had stopped inside the doorway, staring around at the interior of the TARDIS. "It's beautiful," he said softly, taking a hesitant step forward.

"Isn't she just." Jack grinned, glad to be back inside the one place he really belonged now.

"Best ship in the universe," Rose said as she watched the Doctor rush around the console, pressing buttons, pulling levers, turning gizmos. He stopped after a minute, and the ships's movement stopped too as they reached the safety of the Vortex.

"So, Mr Jones, do you have any family to stay with?" the Doctor asked, perching on the edge of the console.

Ianto shook his head. "Mam died when I was young, and Dad died before I moved to London. Then Rhi and her family were killed by some alien thing in Cardiff last year."

Jack blinked. An alien thing in Cardiff? Probably because of the Rift – and that meant that Yvonne had been the one to cause those deaths. Because if she'd bothered to remake Torchwood Three after Alex had gone mad and shot everyone, then there would have been someone to stop the aliens.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor murmured. He sighed, looking at Ianto. "I would offer for you to come with us, but I don't think our lifestyle will help you much. You don't have  _any_  family you could stay with?"

Ianto shook his head again.

"I would say my Mum, but she's..." Rose trailed off, tears coming to her eyes as the enormity of losing her Mum hit her. The Doctor squeezed her hand gently.

"I suppose you're not just going to let me go back to my flat?" Ianto asked.

Jack shook his head. "You'd have UNIT onto you immediately. And I somehow doubt you'd want to go back. You'd be haunted by memories," he said gently, and Ianto nodded, sighing.

"I've got it!" Rose exclaimed suddenly. "What about Sarah Jane?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks as always to my beta, Eilonwyn at FF.net, who helps turn this story into what it is.

In an attic in Ealing, a woman sat on a small flight of steps giving orders to her supercomputer.

"Mr Smith, can you make sure that there are no more Cybermen or Daleks left on Earth?"

"I can confirm with certainty that there are no unfriendly alien presences on Earth or in it's vicinity at this point in time, Sarah Jane."

Sarah Jane sighed in relief. She had been out shopping at the time of the invasion, and had gotten stuck, unable to get home because of the Cybermen taking over the streets. She'd never liked those ghosts, but she hadn't been able to do anything about them – when she'd contacted UNIT, they'd told her that even they couldn't do anything.

She'd watched, terrified, as Daleks had zoomed through the skies, and had stared incredulously as they'd been sucked back towards the City Centre - and as the Cybermen had been pulled up into the sky and sucked away in the same direction.

As soon as the last Cyberman had gone, she'd turned tail and raced home, bursting into her attic to find out exactly what had happened.

Mr Smith's tale of a parallel universe was unusual, but when he had traced certain signals from UNIT and Torchwood, and hacked into Torchwood's failed security system, the mention of the Doctor had calmed her. Whatever had happened, the Earth was surely safe now. If the Doctor was there, and the Daleks and Cybermen were gone, then everything was under control.

Mr Smith interrupted her musings. "Sarah Jane, I am detecting an escalation of temporal flux in the immediate vicinity."

She stood up sharply, turning just as a familiar sound rang through the attic.

"Sarah Jane?" Mr Smith questioned, unable to tell if it was a threat or not.

"It's okay, Mr Smith. It's just an old friend, come to pay a visit."

The TARDIS materialised at the top of the steps, the familiar blue box bringing a smile to Sarah Jane's face. The door opened and Rose appeared, popping her head around the door. She grinned broadly at Sarah Jane's slightly stunned expression and her eyes widened as she took in the cluttered attic. Rose opened her mouth to say something, but was forestalled as someone gave her a light shove out of the TARDIS doorway. Rose turned to scowl at the man, and Sarah Jane diverted her attention to the doorway, expecting to see the Doctor.

But instead, she saw a tall, handsome man in smart, period military uniform, with a charming grin on his face. He strode forward confidently and took her hand.

"Captain Jack Harkness. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Smith."

"Jack, stop it," the Doctor said sternly, stepping out of the TARDIS just as Sarah Jane was about to answer. The Captain pouted slightly, but a glare from the Doctor made him release Sarah Jane's hand and step away.

The Doctor grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back towards the TARDIS.

"Why don't you keep Mr Jones company?" he said, as though talking to a child. Jack gave him a funny look but did as he was asked and stepped back into the TARDIS. The Doctor then turned back to Sarah Jane, who had been watching the whole exchange with raised eyebrows and an amused smile.

"Hello again Sarah! You all right?" His tone was jovial, but Sarah Jane picked up on the deep meaning in his question: had she survived the attack unscathed, and without reliving too many bad memories.

She nodded slowly. "And you? Are you two okay?" she asked, glancing between the Doctor and Rose.

"Recovering," the Doctor replied with a small smile. Sarah Jane nodded slowly, noting the sadness in Rose's eyes and the half hidden pain in the Doctor's, and hastened to change the subject.

"So, I'm guessing you didn't just come here to check on me?..."

The Doctor grinned ruefully. "No. We were rather hoping to ask quite a large favour of you."

She raised her eyebrows.

"What do you want?"she asked suspiciously, before pausing and holding a hand up to forestall the Doctor, who had opened his mouth to reply. "Wait. First, tell me exactly what happened in London today."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"So who is Sarah Jane Smith?"

Ianto and Jack were sitting in the console room of the TARDIS, waiting for the Doctor and Rose to finish talking.

"An old companion of the Doctor's," Jack said. "I've never met her – come to that, I don't think I've actually ever met any of his other companions except Rose and Mickey."

"Mickey?" Ianto asked.

"Rose's, er, ex." Ianto tensed slightly and sighed, and Jack decided to change the subject before Ianto broke down again.

"I knew about Sarah Jane because the files we hacked from UNIT mentioned her several times as the Doctor's assistant. I admire her work, but I've never met her in person."

Ianto nodded wryly. "So we're entrusting my safety to someone neither of us knows."

"The Doctor trusts her, as does Rose. That's good enough for me."

Ianto looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "Do you make a habit of trusting people you barely know?" he asked, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Jack grinned, glad that Ianto's mood had improved. Of course, that probably meant that he was bottling his feelings up – but then, wasn't that part of the point of putting him in Sarah Jane's care instead of keeping him on the TARDIS, so that he didn't trigger his grief at the wrong moment and get himself, or even someone else, killed?

Jolting himself out of his inner discussion, Jack replied with a cheeky grin,"Only when my Doctor recommends it."

Ianto smiled properly, and although it didn't reach his eyes, Jack was satisfied. For now.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"So, you want me to look after a young man with no family, whose girlfriend has just been shot at her own request, and who, quite possibly, has UNIT on his tail?" Sarah Jane repeated, somewhat incredulously. Apart from the fact that she hadn't really expected to see the Doctor again – what chance was there that they'd meet up again? – now they were asking her to look after someone that they themselves had only just met? "I've worked quite hard to stop UNIT from finding out what I've got hidden up here."

"Well, strictly speaking, it's very unlikely that UNIT would know he was here. if they saw us leave then they only know that he's with me, and if they didn't, they'll say he's unaccounted for, and therefore, dead." The Doctor grimaced, and Sarah Jane exchanged a look with Rose before smiling.

"All right. You've convinced me. I'll take him - Ianto, you said? - in."

Rose and the Doctor broke into identical grins.

"Told you so, didn't I?" the Doctor said to Rose with a cocky grin.

"Oi!" she retorted, poking him in the side. "It was my idea, mister!"

The Doctor continued to grin at her, albeit slightly guiltily. Rose scowled at him playfully and pushed him back towards the TARDIS. "You go and tell Jack and Ianto; I want to talk with Sarah Jane."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows but obeyed, stepping back into the TARDIS. Sarah Jane shifted her gaze to Rose. She'd noticed the young girl seemed slightly more forlorn than she had when they'd last met, and the events the Doctor had just explained told her why. She'd lost her mother - willingly, maybe, but Sarah Jane knew that that was probably little consolation.

Rose seemed unsure of what to say now that she'd gotten rid of the Doctor, so Sarah Jane spoke first. "If you ever need anything, or just want to escape for a while, you're always welcome here."

Rose nodded. "It's not just that... it's..." Unsure of how to say it, Rose decided to be blunt. "You loved him, didn't you? Your Doctor, I mean."

Overcoming her initial shock at the question, Sarah Jane nodded, an odd expression on her face. "Sometimes I think I did, but sometimes it just felt like a silly schoolgirl crush." She paused. "Why?"

"It's just... I don't know what to do. He's all I've got now; I don't want to ruin what we've got, but I don't know if I can go on like this. Sometimes he gives off the right sort of signs, but then sometimes..."

"He's just so alien," Sarah Jane finished, nodding. She frowned slightly as she thought it over. "I wish I could tell you something comforting, but really all I can tell you is to wait for him to make the first move. Remember, he is an alien, and however human he might act, I'm not sure he totally understands us humans all the time. But really, from what I've seen of you and him, I'd say you have a rather good chance." A hopeful light lit in Rose's eyes. "And if you ever feel you've had enough of it all," Sarah Jane continued, "as I said before, you are very welcome here."

Rose smiled gratefully and relaxed slightly. It had obviously been worrying her, exactly what she'd do if for some reason she ever wanted to leave the Doctor. Not that that was likely to happen: the Doctor and Rose fit together too well, even as friends. A few months ago, before she'd reunited with the Doctor, Sarah Jane might have been jealous. But she wasn't now. Her motherly instincts had awoken at Rose's distress, and now she was hoping just as much as Rose for the Doctor to come to his senses. With a slightly ironic smile, Sarah Jane shifted uncomfortably and changed the subject.

"What've you been up to since I saw you last, then?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Jack and Ianto looked up as the Doctor returned to the TARDIS.

"So, good news or bad news?" Jack asked.

"Huh?" The Doctor blinked at Jack for a second before realising what the Captain meant. "Oh, yes, she's perfectly happy to have Mr Jones stay with her for as long as he wants." He grinned at Ianto, who smiled gratefully. The Doctor perched on the edge of the console next to the two men. "They're having some kind of girly talk out there. Better give them a few minutes."

"What about all my stuff? I mean, if UNIT thinks I'm dead they'll get rid of it, won't they?" Ianto asked after a moment.

The Doctor and Jack exchanged glances.

"I... hadn't thought of that," the Doctor said after a second. Jack nodded, slightly guiltily.

Ianto rolled his eyes at the pair of them. "So, shouldn't we go now and get it, before UNIT gets around to it?"

The Doctor tilted his head slightly, a grin forming on his face. "No need to worry about that, Mr Jones." Ianto gave him a confused look, but the Doctor had already carried on. "I presume that at, ooh, roughly 10.00 am this morning, your house was empty? I mean, that no-one was there?"

"Yes..." Ianto said slowly, not sure where this was going. Beside him, the Captain chuckled quietly. He'd figured it out.

"Well, then," the Doctor continued, "we'll just pop back and pick your stuff up this morning."

A light turned on in Ianto's head. "Time machine," he said, slightly bitterly.

The Doctor picked up on this immediately. "I'm sorry. If I could go back and stop the whole battle happening, I would. But it's part of events now. A fixed point in time. Changing that would cause a paradox... and a paradox twisted enough that it would probably bring down the Reapers."

"The Reapers?" Jack questioned.

"Nasty things. If time gets damaged enough, they manifest and sterilise the wound. They consume everything in sight, making them stronger. Wounds in time..." he trailed off, smiling absently, as though lost in a memory, before breaking himself away. "All right then! Jack, if you just pop out and tell the girls that where we're going and that we'll be back in a minute..."

Jack snorted at that – he remembered Rose telling him about the time the Doctor returned with her a year late; in fact, he remembered being in the city when all the 'missing' posters were up...

"Hello, ladies," he said, stepping out of the TARDIS. "We're going on a little trip to this morning to fetch some of Ianto's stuff. The Doctor says we'll be back in a minute, but I wouldn't count on it." He finished with a wink at Rose and stepped backwards towards the TARDIS.

Rose smiled at him cheekily. "Tell him I'll be counting. And if he's more than a day, he's in big trouble."

Jack laughed and stepped back into the TARDIS, relaying Rose's message to the Doctor; he was rather indignant about it, muttering something about 'designed for six pilots' and 'old, older than me'. The shock he received from the TARDIS for the last comment when he'd touched the console even made Ianto crack a smile.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

The TARDIS materialised in a small, cosy flat in East London. Ianto breathed out shakily as he stepped out of the door into a flat of ghosts and memories. Tears welled up in his eyes when his eyes fell on Lisa's stuff mixed in with his own, when he saw the photos on the mantelpiece out of the corner of his eye. He stepped forward as though in a daze. He had believed the Doctor and Jack when they'd said he wouldn't want to come home. He'd already faced that when he'd gone to his parents' and his sister's houses after their deaths. But this... somehow hit harder.

Jack stepped out behind him, clutching a large, lidded tub that the Doctor had unearthed from somewhere. He wasn't quite sure what it was made of – it didn't seem like any Earth material that Jack had come across, but Jack hadn't seen it before in any of his travels either. Not that it really mattered, but it was rather lighter than it should have been for a box of its size. However, he was more worried about the young man in front of him, who was liable to collapse any second.

The Doctor followed them, slightly hesitant to set foot in yet another domestic environment. Of course, he should have been used to it by this point, but even now, the loss of his own home was still too raw. He was gradually getting used to it: he had just about accustomed himself to Jackie's flat, and he'd only seen Sarah Jane's attic, which had been alien enough to distract him. And while Rose was starting to teach him to enjoy some of the aspects of a domestic life, it was still far too...  _alien..._ for him.

"So then, I'd advise not taking too much - might be suspicious - but if you ever want to see something again, take it. Who knows what UNIT might do to it..." Jack said, dumping the box on the floor next to the sofa and sitting down with a lazy grin. Ianto, broken out of his thoughts, looked at him.

"We'll get this done quicker if you help me," he said, half-glaring at Jack. In the short space of time since he'd met the Captain, Ianto had soon realised that the man wasn't about to pull rank on him – that he'd rather see him as an equal, just another survivor from the battle. From what Captain Jack said, it sounded like he'd had never wanted to be involved with Torchwood in the first place. So Ianto didn't bother giving him the respect and courtesy he would have done had he met him yesterday.

Jack half scowled, half pouted. The Doctor gave him a stern look, and then, with a cheeky grin, vanished into the TARDIS. Jack stood to follow him indignantly, but Ianto glared at him properly, so, sighing heavily, Jack turned to him.

"Okay then. You put stuff in piles, I'll pack them in the box," he told him, quite satisfied with the division of labour. Ianto sighed a long-suffering sigh and turned towards the bathroom.

()()

Ianto completed the bathroom and kitchen quickly, the living room taking a bit longer, but fifteen minutes after Ianto disappeared into the bedroom, the piles of stuff stopped coming.

Jack hadn't really noticed initially, too busy figuring out how to fit everything into the box; as soon as he did realise, however, he stood to go and investigate. They didn't really have time for this... the lunchtime ghost shift was when it all started, and if they weren't back in the TARDIS by then, they were in big trouble.

He pushed open the bedroom door and stepped forward, stopping short as soon as he got through the door.

Ianto was curled up on the floor at the foot of the bed, clutching something to his chest, sobbing.

Jack sighed and stepped over to Ianto, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ianto tensed, but didn't move, too overcome to properly acknowledge the Captain. Encouraged by the fact that Ianto hadn't flinched away, Jack gently put an arm around the younger man, and carefully raised him until he was sitting up, crying onto Jack's shoulder. As he did so, Jack caught a glimpse of what was in his hands: a small, dark blue velvet box.

A ring box.

Jack resisted the urge to curse and merely tightened his hold on the distraught man. He'd realised that Ianto and Lisa were deeply in love, but he hadn't realised quite how far along their relationship was. Judging by Ianto's distress, and the obvious presence of the ring box, he'd been planning on proposing in the near future.

To come home from that battle, from Lisa's death, and find that... even Jack who had lost so many loved ones during his life couldn't imagine what Ianto was feeling.

He could feel Ianto calming down slowly; he was shaking less, sobs less frequent, his breathing becoming more even. Jack sat with his arm around Ianto's shoulders, giving him silent support and waiting for the young man to speak.

"Why?" Ianto's voice was rough and unsteady, but he'd lifted his head and was now leaning back against the bed, gazing at Jack. "Why did the invasion happen? Why didn't anyone realise about the ghosts? Why didn't somebody stop it before it was too late?" He was angry now, and Jack took a deep breath, thinking best how to answer that.

"I...we... we did all we could. Nobody could have guessed that the ghosts were gonna turn into Cybermen; heck, Torchwood didn't even know they existed. I tried to stop the ghost shifts before, I really did, but Yvonne wouldn't listen to me; she wouldn't listen to anyone. By the time the Cybermen manifested themselves, it was too late. It wasn't an invasion, there was no way to stop it. They had control of everything."

"And they destroyed everything," Ianto finished bitterly. "It was Torchwood's fault. If they hadn't been messing around with the ghosts and the breach, none of this would ever have happened..." He paused, looking down at the floor. "When I joined Torchwood, I thought I would be protecting people. I thought that Torchwood could save people. But all they did was destroy."

Jack sighed. "Ianto..."

"Don't, Captain. Don't tell me that the world is better off because Torchwood exists. They might have saved a few people here and there, but they destroy more life than they save. My sister's family was killed because Torchwood didn't manage to save the day in time, Lisa died because of Torchwood... Torchwood's destroyed my life!"

"Because without them, life's no longer worth living." Ianto and Jack both looked up at the new voice. The Doctor was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe. "You want to hate Torchwood, but you can't bring yourself to because you know that however bad they've been, they have saved lives. You want to hate all the aliens out there because they're the reason people have died, but you can't, because you know that out there somewhere, there must be good aliens." The Doctor stepped into the room and crouched in front of Jack and Ianto. "You want to die, because you haven't got anyone else to live for, but you want to live to stop anyone else feeling the way you do now."

Ianto looked at the Time Lord in amazement, because the alien had just summed up exactly how Ianto was feeling.

The Doctor smiled humourlessly at that, and decided to explain. "I lost my planet. It burned, the people and the civilisation with it. I'm the only one left now. The only reason I keep going is the hope that I might save other planets, other people from the same fate. Just by living, you might, one day, have the chance to make sure that just once, everybody will live." He glanced at Jack, who had smiled at the memory of those words, and stood up, holding out a hand for Ianto. Ianto nodded, a determined glint coming to his eye as he took the Doctor's hand and stood up. Beside him, Jack pulled himself to his feet.

For a moment, none of them spoke. Then Ianto broke the silence, pointing to a large carry-all on the floor.

"That's all I need from in here. I think we're done." He disappeared out of the room and into the bathroom, slipping the small velvet box into his pocket.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

An hour or so after they left, the churning of the TARDIS engines heralded the men's arrival back at the attic. Sarah Jane watched as the Doctor and Captain Jack stepped out, followed by a young man. They all seemed rather solemn, but then again, they had been in a battle to the death mere hours ago.

Jack was carrying the large tub and Ianto had a black carry-all in his hand. The Doctor grinned at Rose. "So, how long was I?"

Rose glanced at her watch. "One hour, twenty-three minutes and fourteen seconds, give or take," she replied with a cheeky smile.

"Not bad, given his track record," Sarah Jane said.

Jack coughed lightly, and Sarah Jane looked over at him apologetically. "Oh, sorry. You can put that in the first bedroom on the left, just down the stairs," she told him, pointing at the doorway.

Jack nodded silently and headed out of the door, the occupants of the attic wincing as something thudded into the wall.

Ianto glanced at Sarah Jane awkwardly. "Thanks for letting me stay. I..."

"It's no problem at all. This house is far too big for me, anyway. It'll be good to have some company," Sarah Jane interrupted firmly. Ianto smiled gratefully.

Jack reappeared in the doorway, slightly out of breath, and The Doctor stood up from where he'd been perched on the arm of the sofa.

"Right then, we'd best be off." He paused, looking at Ianto, and changed tack. "Actually, Mr. Jones, could I see your mobile for a minute?"

Ianto looked slightly confused, but pulled the device out of his pocket. The Doctor took it from him, removing the back and tinkering with it for a second before sonic-ing it a few times. He then replaced the back, and entered a couple of numbers.

"That's the TARDIS phone number and Rose's. Call us if you need anything, I'll make sure the TARDIS tells me if you've left any messages." He grinned widely, hugged Sarah Jane, and, with a parting wave, retreated into the TARDIS. Rose also hugged Sarah Jane, whispered something to her before following the Time Lord into the TARDIS.

"Well then, I'll be seeing you sometime." Jack saluted lazily at them, and finally the TARDIS door shut for the last time.

A second later, winds swirled around the attic as the Doctor, Rose, and Jack departed for the Vortex.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

As the TARDIS settled herself in the vortex, the Doctor joined Jack and Rose where they were sitting on the Captain's chair. Rose sighed happily.

"This is how it should be. The three of us, together, savin' the world."

The Doctor smiled, remembering his words to Ida after their adventure on Krop Tor.

"The Stuff of Legend."


End file.
